Greenland with envy: How Europeans should respond to Trump’s obsession

Problem  

It was not on any 2025 predictions list. Donald Trump, former real estate mogul and soon-to-be 47th president of the United States, has begun the year by setting his sights on buying Greenland, supposedly for the “purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world.” To the shock of his European counterparts – the president-elect has even refused to rule out the use of military force to acquire Greenland.

Both Denmark’s and Greenland’s prime ministers, along with other European leaders, have spoken out against Trump’s overtures. They are right to be worried. Trump’s attempts to purchase Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, suggest the incoming president thinks Europeans can be walked all over. He seems to believe that Europeans are so dependent on the United States that the US president can simply demand that they sell him any mineral-rich or strategic territory he desires. If Europeans don’t stand up to this geopolitical bullying, it will not be his last demand.

Solution

The president-elect claims to be concerned about Greenland’s defence, so Europeans need to show that they can both defend Greenland and the Arctic themselves and that the region can only be secure with transatlantic cooperation.

To make this argument, Europeans first need to increase their own investments in Arctic defence. Between Trump’s Truth Social posts, Denmark’s defence minister has already announced a plan to bolster Greenland’s defence by around a billion euros, acknowledging the Arctic will be a crucial geopolitical battleground. European allies should support these financial efforts to bolster’s Greenland’s defence, as well as the defence of the entire Arctic. In particular, Europeans should work with Greenlanders to invest in more robust maritime defence capabilities and ensuring economic security in the region.

Europeans must also show the US the strategic value of working together. Russia and China have already begun deepening their cooperation to solidify their own interests in the Arctic. The US cannot compete in this arena alone, as it needs European scientific, military, and technological know-how to defend its own Arctic ambitions.

Context  

This is not the first time Trump has said he wants to purchase Greenland, and he is not the first US president to try (Truman made an offer in the 1940s). Trump’s fixation is not as misguided as it sounds. The resource-rich island has played an important role in Arctic issues and will become an even more important geopolitical actor as climate change reshapes the region.

Denmark and Greenland are approaching Trump’s sales technique differently this time around. The Danish prime minister has used a rather conciliatory tone and has not called it “absurd” as she did in 2019. In fact, both Denmark and Greenland have emphasised the US as a strategic partner. Ultimately, if Trump did use military force against Greenland he would by extension, be attacking Denmark and thus a NATO ally. The spectacle of NATO’s core member using force against one of its weaker allies to seize territory would terminally weaken the alliance. But it is an empty threat as long as Europeans stand up the bully about to enter the White House.