US President Donald Trump is considering using the military to take over Greenland.
Washington has said that Trump has been discussing ‘a range of options’ to acquire the island home to 56,000 people.
A White House spokesperson said yesterday: ‘The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilising the US military is always an option at the Commander-in-Chief’s disposal.’
Trump has repeatedly insisted that Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory, rightfully belongs to the US.
He’s even already suggested that his administration would consider buying Greenland, given its alluring geopolitical position.
But Denmark has stressed that the sparsely populated island is not for sale.
Why does Donald Trump want Greenland?
Trump has never been shy about his desire to claim Greenland for his own, claiming the island is vital for American national security.
Greenland sits in the Arctic Circle, where world powers have for years been jostling for military control – the US has a missile defence base on it.
By seizing the island, Washington says it would have an outpost between the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic.
As climate change melts the Arctic icecaps, the once nearly impossible-to-navigate ocean is becoming more alluring.
The country also has large amounts of rare minerals used to make essentials like batteries, phones and vehicles. It may also have pools of oil and gas, though scientists warn it’s too risky to dig for them.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned it could spell the end of Nato – a mutual-defence alliance whose members include the UK, the US and European powers – and upend the Russia-Ukraine war.
Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster TV2: ‘I believe one should take the American president seriously when he says that he wants Greenland.’
Greenland falls under the sovereign boundaries of Nato member Denmark.
Fellow members have shown their solidarity, saying Greenland ‘belongs to the people’ and only Danish and Greenland officials can decide its future.
They included the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland, all of which are close American allies.
They added in a joint statement yesterday: ‘We and many other Allies have increased our presence, activities and investments, to keep the Arctic safe and to deter adversaries.’
Welcoming the statement, Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said ‘respectful dialogue’ must take place.
Greenland’s future has been in the news once again after the US upped its attacks against Venezuela and abducted the country’s president.
Katie Miller, the wife of one of Trump’s senior aides, posted a map of Greenland in the colours of the American flag following the raid.
(Picture: Katie Miller)
She wrote: ‘Soon.’
Her husband, Stephen Miller, told CNN on Monday: ‘Nobody’s going to fight the US over the future of Greenland.’
This isn’t the first time the US has eyed up Greenland – it tried to buy it in 1846 and again in 1946.
Trump, a New York real estate developer, has been outspoken about his desire to make a third bid for the nation rather than invade it.
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