Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

The Greenland flag is pictured on August 18, 2019 in Kulusuk (also spelled Qulusuk), a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality located on the island of the same name on the southeastern shore of Greenland. Jonathan Nackstrand, AFP/File

Article (news)

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17677484411491767626969471AFP__20190827__1JT0C0__v1__MidRes__GreenlandDenmarkNatureTourismLifestyle_cropped_processed_by_imagy.jpg" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The Greenland flag is pictured on August 18, 2019 in Kulusuk (also spelled Qulusuk), a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality located on the island of the same name on the southeastern shore of Greenland. <em>Jonathan Nackstrand, AFP/File</em><br/></span></span></span>WASHINGTON, United States — US President Donald Trump is discussing options including military action to take control of Greenland, the White House said Tuesday, upping tensions that Denmark warns could destroy the NATO alliance.</div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/1/5/that-s-enough-greenland-pm-urges-trump-to-drop-annex-threats-2346">&#x27;That&#x27;s enough&#x27;: Greenland PM urges Trump to drop annex threats</a></div><p>Trump has stepped up his designs on the mineral-rich, self-governing Danish territory in the arctic since the US military operation to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro last weekend.</p><p>White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that &quot;acquiring Greenland is a national security priority&quot; for Trump to deter US adversaries like Russia and China.</p><p>&quot;The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the commander in chief&#x27;s disposal,&quot; she said in a statement to AFP.</p><p>The Wall Street Journal reported US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that Trump&#x27;s preferred option is to buy Greenland from Denmark, adding that the threats did not signal an imminent invasion.</p><p>Denmark has warned that any move to take Greenland by force would mean that &quot;everything would stop&quot; including NATO and 80 years of close transatlantic security links.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/1/5/-soon-greenland-slams-disrespectful-pic-posted-by-trump-aide-s-wife-0711">&#x27;Soon&#x27;: Greenland slams &#x27;disrespectful&#x27; pic posted by Trump aide&#x27;s wife</a></div><p>Any US military action against Greenland would effectively collapse NATO, since the alliance&#x27;s Article Five pledges that member states will defend any of their number that come under attack.</p><p>Greenland and Denmark said earlier that they had asked to meet Rubio quickly as tensions rose over the issue.</p><p>&quot;It has so far not been possible,&quot; Greenland&#x27;s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt wrote on social media, adding that they had been pushing for a meeting throughout 2025.</p><p>Denmark&#x27;s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said meeting Rubio should &quot;clear up certain misunderstandings.&quot;</p><p>Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen earlier insisted that the island was not for sale, and that only its 57,000 people should decide its future.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;NOT ACCEPTABLE&#x27; </strong></div><p>Allies have rallied around Denmark and Greenland -- while trying not to antagonize Trump at the same time.</p><p>The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain joined Denmark in a statement on Tuesday saying that they would defend the &quot;universal principles&quot; of &quot;sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders.&quot;</p><p>French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer both sought to play down the row as they attended Ukraine peace talks in Paris alongside Trump&#x27;s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.</p><p>&quot;I cannot imagine a scenario in which the United States of America would be placed in a position to violate Danish sovereignty,&quot; Macron said.</p><p>Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, whose country Trump earlier this year said should become the 51st state, also weighed in.</p><p>&quot;The future of Greenland and Denmark are decided solely by the people of Denmark and Greenland,&quot; Carney told reporters in Paris.</p><p>The United States already has a military base in Greenland, the Pituffik space base, with around 150 personnel stationed there.</p><p>Greenland residents have also rejected Trump&#x27;s threats.</p><p>&quot;This is not something we appreciate,&quot; Christian Keldsen, director of the Greenland Business Assocation, told AFP in the capital Nuuk. &quot;It is not acceptable in the civilized world.&quot;</p><p>Trump&#x27;s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told CNN on Monday that &quot;nobody&#x27;s going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland!&quot;</p><p>Copenhagen has however invested heavily in security, allocating some 90 billion kroner ($14 billion) in the last year.</p><p>Trump has been floating the idea of annexing Greenland since his first term.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s like a broken record,&quot; Marc Jacobsen, a specialist in security, politics and diplomacy in the Arctic at the Royal Danish Defense College, told AFP.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong><br/></strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><strong><br/></strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R2eOIMBQNhU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wAY3NMwGj4k?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that "acquiring Greenland is a national security priority" for Trump to deter US adversaries like Russia and China.</p>

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that "acquiring Greenland is a national security priority" for Trump to deter US adversaries like Russia and China.

Trump weighs military option to acquire Greenland

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Trump weighs military option to acquire Greenland

Danny Kemp,

Agence France-Presse

Published January 07, 2026 09:14 AM PHT

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Updated January 07, 2026 11:05 PM PHT

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