‘We’ll go as far as we have to go’: Donald Trump vows to annex nation as tensions explode

“We’ll get Greenland. Yeah, 100 per cent,” Mr Trump told US media yesterday.

“There’s a good possibility it could be done without military force,” he said, adding: “I don’t take anything off the table.”

The assertion came after a week where national security dominated US headlines.

The inclusion of a journalist in an insecure Signal social media chat group between leading White House officials provoked an uproar.

Key details, including dates and times of raids on Houthi rebel forces in Yemen were compromised.

All the while, President Trump kept his eyes firmly set on the north.

“We need Greenland, very importantly, for international security,” Mr Trump told reporters at the White House over the weekend.

“We have to have Greenland. It’s not a question of ‘Do you think we can do without it?’ We can’t.”

The President’s comments rounded off a week of rising diplomatic tensions between the US, Denmark and the 56,900 residents of the self-governing territory.

US Vice President JD Vance and his wife had been at the centre of a storm of controversy for much of the week over the visit, which saw Vice President Vance fly to a lonely US military outpost on the island’s windswept northwest coast.

He told the 200 US troops stationed there that they were in danger.

“Denmark has not kept pace and devoted the resources necessary to keep this base, to keep our troops, and in my view, to keep the people of Greenland safe from a lot of very aggressive incursions from Russia, from China and other nations,” he asserted.

“A lot of other countries have threatened Greenland, have threatened to use its territories and its waterways to threaten the United States, to threaten Canada and of course, to threaten the people of Greenland …

Mr Vance produced no examples of these alleged incursions.

But he did provoke a retort from Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.

“Many accusations and many allegations have been made. And of course we are open to criticism,” Mr Rasmussen said.

“But let me be completely honest: we do not appreciate the tone in which it is being delivered. This is not how you speak to your close allsies. And I still consider Denmark and the United States to be close allies.”

King’s gambit

“I think a lot of Americans wonder why does Greenland matter so much?” Mr Vance told the US Space Force Pituffik Base garrison.

“I think a lot of Americans — certainly I did not realise it fully until President Trump started talking about the importance of our Arctic mission, about building upon it and ensuring America will lead in the Arctic for the next generation.”

The rapid pace of climate change is reshaping the Arctic Circle.

Areas once permanently covered with pack ice are becoming navigable by shipping. And that means new, shorter links between Russia, Europe, Canada – and the Pacific Ocean.

Mr Trump says Chinese and Russian warships are now using international shipping routes passing near Greenland to approach the US East Coast.

“We need Greenland for national security and international security … We’re not relying on Denmark or anybody else to take care of that situation,” he asserted.

Vice President Vance sought to detail why.

“We know that Russia, China, and other nations are taking an extraordinary interest in Arctic passageways and Arctic naval routes as well as in the minerals of the Arctic territories. We need to ensure that America is leading in the Arctic because we know if America does not, other nations will fill the gap where we fall behind.”

The US military first took an interest in Greenland during World War II. It established the Thule Air Base as part of a network that ferried bombers, officials, documents and critical supplies to the United Kingdom.

Later, during the Cold War, Thule Air Base was renamed and upgraded to a radar observation facility to monitor rocket and aircraft activity in the Soviet Union.

Mr Trump insists US security now depends on securing the whole island.

“It’s [an] island from a defensive posture and even offensive posture is something we need,” he said during a radio interview on Wednesday.

“When you look at the ships going up their shore by the hundreds, it’s a busy place.”

He then reiterated his resolve to a White House press gathering: “I think we’ll go as far as we have to go. We need Greenland. And the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark.”

 

 

On thin ice

“I think that you’d be a lot better (off) coming under the United States’ security umbrella than you have been under the Denmark security umbrella,” Mr Vance told the Greenland community during his visit to Pituffik Space Base.

“Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have underinvested in the people of Greenland, and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people.

“That has to change, and because it hasn’t changed, this is why President Trump’s policy in Greenland is what it is.”

But Greenlanders are yet to be convinced.

What appears certain is a lack of desire to replace one colonial overlord for another.

In March, 1000 people took to the streets of Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, in protest. That’s out of its total population of 19,900. They waved placards stating “Make America Go Away”, “We’re Not For Sale” and “Yankee Go Home”.

A recent poll for the Danish Berlingske and Greenlandic Sermitsiaqt news services shows 85 per cent did not want to become part of the US. Only six per cent said they thought it was a good idea. Another nine per cent were undecided.

It’s also not a popular idea among President Trump’s own people.

A Fox News survey indicates 70 per cent of voters opposed taking over Greenland. About 26 per cent supported the move.

But Mr Trump remains resolute that Greenland must become a US territory.

“This is world peace, this is international security,” he said, adding: “I don’t take anything off the table.”

Shadow play

Mr Trump is not the first US President to desire Greenland.

President Andrew Johnson sought to buy the island in 1867 after acquiring Alaska from Russia for a bargain-basement deal of $7.2 million.

After World War II, President Harry Truman offered $100 million in gold bullion to take over the island as a Cold War forward staging post.

“These plans have longstanding historical roots,” Mr Trump said of his desire to annex Greenland.

“I think we have to do it and convince them, and we have to have the land because it’s not possible to properly defend a large section of this Earth — not just the US — without it. So we have to have it, and I think we will have it.”

It’s an argument echoing the attempts at justification by China’s Chairman Xi Jinping to assert ownership over the entire East and South China Seas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also reinterpreted history and cried strategic vulnerability to validate his invasion of Ukraine.

When asked on Sunday about the message his territorial ambitions sent to Mr Putin and Mr Xi, Mr Trump replied: “I don’t care”.

It’s an irony not lost on Mr Putin.

“It is a big mistake to think that this is some extravagant talk from the new American administration,” Mr Putin told an Arctic Forum in Murmansk last week.

His own threats and assertions towards Ukraine had been largely dismissed before his troops and tanks crossed the border on February 24, 2022.

“It is obvious that the United States will continue to systematically promote its geostrategic, military-political and economic interests in the Arctic. As for Greenland, this is a matter that concerns two specific states and has nothing to do with us,” Mr Putin added.

He contradicted Vice President Vance and President Trump, insisting the Kremlin poses no threat to the icy island.

“Russia has never threatened anyone in the Arctic,” Mr Putin asserted.

“But we are closely monitoring the development of the situation, building an adequate response line, increasing the combat capabilities of the armed forces and modernising military infrastructure facilities.”

Jamie Seidel is a freelance writer | @jamieseidel.bsky.social