United States President Donald Trump has a strong interest in incorporating Greenland into American territory. Authorities from Denmark and the Greenlandic government, however, have already made it clear that they have no interest in selling the Arctic island, despite Washington’s insistence.
This Wednesday (21), during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump stated that he had reached a preliminary agreement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) involving Greenland and the security of the Arctic region. The understanding, however, is not yet definitive and is in the negotiation phase, which still leaves open other possibilities evaluated by the American government to annex the island.
Military action
In his speech at the Davos Economic Forum, Trump stated that he does not plan to use force to obtain the autonomous Danish island.
Despite this, a military intervention for taking over the territory is not ruled out. The White House team itself has mentioned the possibility in previous statements, emphasizing that all options are on the table, including the use of force.
Acquiring Greenland through military power would technically be an easy operation for the US. However, an action of this type would call into question the relationship with its main European allies and NATO’s actions.
The ease of action occurs because the island does not have its own armed forces, being dependent on Denmark, which also has limited air and naval resources to cover such a vast area.
This limitation provoked a mobilization of European countries that oppose US pressure. France, one of the main European countries to question the US, has requested a NATO military exercise in Greenland, to which it is prepared to contribute.
Eight countries, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, sent small military contingents last week to Greenland for an exercise led by Paris and organized with NATO allies but without Atlantic Alliance command and without U.S. participation.
This initiative led Trump to announce the imposition of new tariffs on countries that oppose his plan to annex Greenland.
The small population – around 60,000 people concentrated in the capital, Nuuk – and the absence of military forces on the island would make the territory an easy target for a lightning operation by Washington, which already has a few hundred military personnel permanently stationed at the Pituffik base, in the extreme northwest of Greenland.
Encouragement of pro-independence movements
In the first months of his second term, Trump promoted a speech that encouraged the independence of Greenland, which currently belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark.
This position had a clear objective: to remove obstacles to signing direct agreements with the USA, since, in the current model, this process must undergo approval in Copenhagen.
To gain independence, however, Greenland’s inhabitants would need to vote in a referendum and then negotiate an agreement that would need to be approved by both Nuuk and Copenhagen. An opinion poll carried out in 2025 by the company Verian showed that 56% of Greenlanders were in favor of the island’s independence, while 28% said they would vote against.
A new survey carried out later by the same company, commissioned by the newspapers Berlingske and Sermitsiaq, showed that the inhabitants of Greenland would not like to be part of the USA.
The results indicated that 85% of Greenland residents do not want to leave the Kingdom and become part of the USA, while 6% want to leave the Kingdom of Denmark and become part of the USA, and 9% are undecided about the decision to be made.
In August last year, Denmark summoned the top US diplomat to Copenhagen after local media reported that Americans with ties to President Donald Trump were carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland.
In December, Trump created the position of special envoy for Greenland and appointed Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry to the role. At the time, he declared that his goal was “to make Greenland part of the USA”.
Purchase of the island
Trump has insisted on the option of buying Greenland, despite its improbability due to the express rejection of the island’s population and Denmark.
This Wednesday, he once again defended this path in his speech at the Davos Forum, on which occasion he stated that he seeks “immediate negotiations” to discuss the acquisition of the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
In addition to the bureaucratic and political obstacles of the purchase, the acquisition of Greenland would have a high financial cost for the US, representing 70% of the country’s entire defense budget estimated for 2026.
