Greenland

Buying Greenland could cost the United States as much as $700bn, officials have estimated, as Donald Trump presses on with his efforts to acquire the island.

Denmark and Greenland insist the semi-autonomous Danish territory is not for sale, but the US president has insisted he will take it “one way or the other” for national security reasons.

A meeting between American, Danish and Greenlandic officials in Washington on Wednesday failed to resolve the “fundamental disagreement” over the mineral-rich Arctic island.

Ha!

I was on the fence with the US taking over Greenland, but it sounds like a good deal for everyone:

– US Landmass expanded by 20%
– Rare earth mineral deposits for AI and Lithium battery independence from China
– 100% employment for Greenlanders
– Early ICBM detection
– Ability… pic.twitter.com/bsmlPOSaQb

— AlphaFox (@alphafox) January 15, 2026

Denmark and at least three of its European allies are sending troops to Greenland after negotiations in Washington failed to deliver a breakthrough on President Trump’s demands to own the territory.

The hastily convened military deployment, a prelude to a larger exercise called Operation Arctic Endurance, will involve soldiers, naval vessels and aircraft from Denmark, and small numbers of unarmed or lightly armed personnel from Germany, Norway and Sweden.

Norway confirmed that it was sending two officers and Germany, which described the deployment as a “reconnaissance” mission, will send 13 personnel. France, Canada and the Netherlands are among the other Nato allies that may make contributions.

BREAKING:🚨 URSULA JUST SHOWED HER HAND

Ursula von der Leyen just went on camera and declared that Greenland “belongs to Denmark and NATO” — directly rebuking President Trump.

Let’s translate that.

This isn’t about the Greenlandic people.

This is about Brussels panicking… pic.twitter.com/Mi2rLbF4Gp

— Jim Ferguson (@JimFergusonUK) January 14, 2026

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that NATO should help the U.S. acquire Greenland and anything less than having the island in U.S. hands is unacceptable, hours before Vice President JD Vance was to host Danish and Greenlandic officials for talks.

In a post on his social media site, Trump reiterated his argument that the U.S. “needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security.” He added that “NATO should be leading the way for us to get it” and that otherwise Russia or China would — “AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!”

“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote. “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”

🚨 JUST IN: Denmark and Greenland officials have ARRIVED at the White House to meet with JD Vance and Sec. Marco Rubio

Time to acquire Greenland!

NATO has another thing coming if they think Trump is going to surrender Greenland to China and Russia.pic.twitter.com/y3Ze2GYfmO https://t.co/3H78B93JTb

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 14, 2026

h/t Mauser

Canada is offering to contribute military assets to a multilateral force being proposed by Germany and Britain to boost NATO’s presence in Greenland, government sources said.

One official said that Prime Minister Mark Carney raised with allies the issue of reinforcing the Arctic, including Greenland, when he was in Europe last week. “We welcome the German and British plan and are actively involved in talks with NATO and our allies,” the official said.

Bloomberg reported on Sunday that European countries, led by Germany, are preparing a plan aimed at showing President Donald Trump that the continent is serious about Arctic security.

A former MI6 chief has expressed support for Donald Trump as he believes the US president obtaining control of Greenland is in the interests of ‘European security’.

Sir Richard Dearlove, the ex-head of Britain’s intelligence agency, said there was a ‘strong argument’ for the US to have Greenland in a bid to deter Chinese threats.

The 80-year-old has urged Denmark to lease the territory to the Americans for a hundred years in a bid to strengthen security in Europe.

President Trump said the US would “do something with Greenland whether they like it or not”, following reports his administration was considering offering lump-sum payments of up to $100,000 to its citizens to persuade them to join the United States.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to annex the semi-autonomous Danish territory, which he claims is “needed” by the US for national security purposes and to prevent China or Russia from taking it.

The White House has declined to rule out the use of military force to acquire Greenland, but Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, has insisted the president’s “first option” remains a diplomatic alternative.

PRESIDENT Trump already has military confrontations with Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, Russia and China. Does he also want one with the rest of Nato over Greenland?

Greenland is the world’s largest island, (just) contiguous with Canada, and geographically part of North America. It was colonised by Denmark in the tenth century but the Norse settlements, which farmed sheep and cattle, died out during the mini-ice age of the medieval period, not long before the rediscovery of America by Columbus.

Greenlanders are using Donald Trump’s threats to take the world’s biggest island by force to push for independence from Denmark.

The Arctic territory’s main opposition party has described the current situation a “window of opportunity”, claiming that Mr Trump’s renewed push to acquire Greenland could help accelerate a breakaway.

Juno Berthelsen, an MP and foreign policy spokesman for the leading opposition party Naleraq, said: “We’ve been seeking independence for many years now, and there’s a window of opportunity here for us, where we could actually go into a dialogue about concrete steps we can take to better Greenlandic people’s lives.”