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Greenland and the US push for control
Floated 2019; revived 2025–26· Issue or flashpoint
FactTreaties, membership, measured data, events.
Trump's push to bring Denmark's self-governing Arctic island under US control, revived in 2025 and peaking in a January 2026 standoff with Europe.
See it on the Geopolitics map →The picture
Greenland, home to about 56,000 people, mostly Inuit, governs itself within the Kingdom of Denmark; Copenhagen runs defense and foreign policy. Trump offered to buy it in 2019, then in 2025 refused to rule out force. In January 2026 he threatened tariffs on European allies that sent troops there, then dropped them after announcing a 'framework' on Arctic security with NATO's chief at Davos. Greenland's and Denmark's leaders insist it is not for sale.
Why it matters
It tests whether the US will pressure a NATO ally over territory. The stakes: the Pituffik Space Base, Arctic sea lanes opening as ice melts, and untapped rare earths.
Key facts and numbers
Public statements, the 1951 US–Denmark defense agreement, and the 2009 Self-Government Act, which lets Greenlanders choose independence by referendum; a January 2025 poll found about 85% opposed joining the US.
What to watch
What a final US–Denmark–Greenland arrangement would include (more bases, mineral rights or something larger), and whether Greenland moves toward independence, remain open.
Connections (2)
▸Greenland and the US push for control strained NATOFact
The relationship
Greenland belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark, a founding NATO member, so Trump's push to take it set one ally against another. European allies sent troops to Greenland; Trump threatened tariffs on eight of them, then dropped the threat in January 2026 after agreeing an Arctic security 'framework' with NATO's chief.
Since when and why
Greenland, Copenhagen and Davos, January 2026; Trump, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's government.
How we know
Trump's public statements and tariff threats, Danish and allied deployment announcements, and Rutte's account of the Davos framework to reporters.
What to watch
What the framework actually commits allies to, and whether the episode did lasting damage to trust; NATO's treaty has no rule for one ally threatening another.
▸Greenland and the US push for control is central to Climate change and the ArcticWidely agreed
The relationship
Warming is thinning Arctic ice, making Greenland's minerals and nearby sea lanes easier to reach and raising its strategic value between North America, Europe and Russia. That feeds US interest beyond its Pituffik Space Base and missile-warning radar. Greenland's ice sheet, losing mass every year, would raise global seas about 7 meters if it fully melted.
Since when and why
Greenland, between the Arctic Ocean and North Atlantic; Pituffik in the northwest; and the Greenland–Iceland–UK gap, where NATO tracks Russian submarines.
How solid?
Widely agreed: NASA's GRACE satellites measure the ice loss, and US defense strategies and Trump's own statements cite Arctic security and minerals as motives.
What to watch
Debated: whether the climate opening matters as much as officials say; Greenland's rare-earth deposits remain costly to mine, and most Arctic shipping is still seasonal.