WASHINGTON — The White House said Tuesday that the US military could seize Greenland — after President Trump again expressed interest in acquiring the Danish-ruled island.
“The President and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement first reported by Reuters.
“President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,” Leavitt said.
Trump’s long-held desire to annex the world’s largest island resurfaced shortly after the American raid Saturday that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Former Trump administration official Katie Miller, the wife of deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, tweeted a map of Greenland covered with the US flag hours after the military operation — drawing outrage from Copenhagen and the semi-autonomous island’s leaders.
Responding to reporter questions, Trump said Sunday: “We’ll worry about Greenland in about two months. Let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days.”
“Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” Trump said in the press cabin of Air Force One.
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security. And Denmark is not gonna be able to do it, I can tell you. You know what Denmark did recently to boost up security in Greenland? They added one more dog sled.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told members of Congress that an invasion of Greenland, home to about 57,000 people, is not imminent and that the goal is to buy the island, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Denmark in 1917 sold the Danish West Indies — now the US Virgin Islands — to Washington in exchange for $25 million in gold.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Monday that a US military takeover would end the NATO alliance.
“If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” she said. “That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.”
Greenlandic premier Jens Frederik Nielsen, meanwhile, called Miller’s tweet “disrespectful” and declared “our country is not for sale.”
Trump administration officials have since the president’s first term worked on a less-dramatic plan to assert influence in Greenland featuring support for local independence, followed by a compact of free association giving the US a role in foreign affairs and defense in exchange for financial assistance.
