Trump Demands U.S. Control of Greenland and Threatens to Pull Troops From Europe as Denmark Vows to Defend It

President Trump reignited a diplomatic crisis with one of America's closest allies on Wednesday, doubling down on his push for U.S. control of Greenland and suggesting Washington could withdraw all of its troops from Europe if the continent keeps resisting.

Speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the alliance's summit, Trump said the self-governing Danish territory was "very important" for the United States "for the protection of the world." In a pointed jab at Copenhagen, he added that Greenland "is not important for Denmark" and repeated his claim that the vast Arctic island is "surrounded by China ships and Russian ships." He has cast the world's largest island as essential to American security in an era of intensifying great-power competition over Arctic shipping lanes and mineral wealth.

Denmark's response was immediate and unyielding. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen vowed to defend Greenland against any attempt by the United States to seize it. "It is a well known position of the United States that it wants to own and take over Greenland," she said. "I hope that it is equally well known everywhere that this is not going to happen." She reiterated that "Greenland is of course not for sale," adding, "We are a sovereign state and we need everyone to respect our territorial integrity."

The exchange laid bare a widening rift inside NATO. Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark — a founding member of the alliance — and both Copenhagen and Nuuk have flatly rejected the idea of an American takeover. Trump's threat to remove U.S. forces from Europe, floated in apparent frustration at the pushback, alarmed allies already anxious about Washington's long-term commitment to the continent's defense amid the war in Ukraine and the escalating confrontation with Iran.

Even so, the summit was not entirely combative. After days of bluster, Trump offered rare praise for the alliance, and a working group of representatives from the United States, Denmark and Greenland has been meeting to discuss next steps. Danish officials have tried to channel American interest into expanded defense cooperation and investment on the island rather than a change of sovereignty.

The dispute underscores how thoroughly Trump has upended traditional alliance politics. What began as an offhand ambition in his first term has hardened into a recurring demand backed by economic and military leverage, forcing a small Nordic democracy to publicly draw a red line against its most powerful ally. For Greenland's roughly 57,000 residents, most of them Indigenous Inuit, the tug-of-war over their homeland has become an unwelcome fixture of global summitry — and a test of whether national borders among NATO members still hold.