Country With 17,000-Person Military Suggests It Can Fight America Over Greenland

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday she cannot rule out using military force in a potential confrontation with President Donald Trump over control of Greenland.

Since early January, Trump has renewed his push to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory, refusing as recently as Monday to clarify whether he would use military force to seize it. Frederiksen’s comments represent the latest escalation in a growing dispute over control of the Arctic territory, as Trump remains undeterred by objections from Denmark and Greenland, and even after several NATO countries deployed very small contingents of troops to the island for training last week.

“The American president has unfortunately not ruled out the use of military force. And therefore the rest of us cannot rule it out either,” said Frederiksen, according to Reuters. “So it is a natural consequence of what the American president has said and has not said.”

“I am certainly not going to abandon Greenland, I made that decision a long time ago as Danish prime minister,” added Frederiksen, whose country maintains roughly 17,000 active-duty personnel as of 2023, compared to America’s more than 1.3 million.

The Trump administration has argued that Greenland, strategically located between the U.S. and Russia and rich in critical minerals, is vital to American security interests.

“The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal,” the White House said on Jan. 6.

European officials, including Frederiksen, have criticized Trump’s renewed pressure campaign, warning that a U.S. takeover could spell the end of NATO.

“If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” Frederiksen said on Jan. 6. “That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.”

Also on Tuesday, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland’s prime minister, said the island’s population and authorities should prepare for a possible military invasion, though it remains unlikely, Bloomberg reported.

“It’s not likely there will be a military conflict, but it can’t be ruled out,” Nielsen said at a press conference, according to the outlet.

Trump on Saturday escalated the feud beyond rhetoric, announcing sweeping tariffs on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland. Under the plan, a 10% tariff would take effect Feb. 1, increase to 25% on June 1, and remain in place until what he described as the “Complete and Total purchase of Greenland” is completed.

The tariff threat came as Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK sent a small number of military personnel to Greenland for joint exercises with Denmark. Amid the growing tensions with the U.S., Danish officials have decided not to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, where leaders from across the world, including Trump, are gathering.

Speaking at the forum on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron — one of the most outspoken European critics of Trump’s push — condemned the “endless accumulation” of new tariffs as “fundamentally unacceptable.”

Macron previously criticized Trump’s rhetoric, urging Europe to reject what he described as a return to “new colonialism.”

Building on his threat of tariffs, Trump warned Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Sunday that he no longer felt bound to prioritize peace, citing his frustration over not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” Trump wrote in a message to Støre, which was first reported by PBS and confirmed as accurate in a statement by the Norwegian leader.

Frederiksen’s office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.