🔗 Share this article

A key figure from Donald Trump's top aides has increased tensions on Denmark by challenging Denmark's sovereign claim to the vast Arctic island.

Military Intervention Dismissed

The president’s deputy chief of staff, stated emphatically military intervention would not be necessary to take over the Arctic territory because “nobody is going to fight the United States in combat over the future of Greenland”.

“What do you mean military action against Greenland? Greenland has 30,000 inhabitants people,” Miller inaccurately claimed, the correct number being closer to 57,000.

Miller further proposed that Copenhagen lacks a legitimate right to the region, which is a former Danish colony and remains part of the Danish kingdom.

Growing Tensions

These remarks follow a period of growing tensions between the two NATO allies after the US president’s renewed calls to purchase Greenland.

The Danish foreign policy committee has called an extraordinary meeting to examine the kingdom’s relationship with the United States.

In his interview, Miller asserted that control over Greenland could be achieved without armed conflict due to its small population.

Questioning Danish Sovereignty

“The core issue is what right does Denmark have to assert control over Greenland? What is the basis of their ownership claim?” Miller questioned.

He added: “As the leading power within the power of NATO. For the US to secure the Arctic region to defend NATO, it is logical that Greenland should be part of the US.”

There was, he said “no requirement to even consider or discuss” a military operation in Greenland, reiterating: “Nobody is going to fight the US militarily.”

Global Responses

These statements came after Trump said over the weekend, following events in Venezuela, that the US needed Greenland “very badly”.

The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, reacted by warning that an attack by the US a fellow alliance member would mean the end of the military alliance and “the postwar security order”.

The island's own leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, issued a forceful rebuke, calling on the US president to abandon his “fantasies about annexation” and accused the US of being “wholly inappropriate”.

Background and Present Position

The aide's assertions came after his wife, podcaster Katie Miller, shared a digital image of Greenland under a US flag with the tag “SOON”.

When questioned on the online image, he responded by stating: “It has been the official stance of the US government from the start of this presidency... The president has been very clear about that.”

The territory remained a colony until 1953, when it was integrated of the Danish realm. The US maintains a military base there, critical to its national missile defense network.

Recently, there has been increasing sentiment for self-rule, particularly after disclosures about historical policies of Greenlandic people.

However, facing the prospect of Trump’s threat, Greenland in March established a new unity government in a show of national unity, with its founding document declaring: “We are the rightful owners of Greenland.”