NATO has reason to break a cold sweat. Trump is on the same track as in Venezuela. “No one will fight against the US for the future of Greenland” [ANALIZA]
Trump's rhetoric on Greenland began even before he officially took office in his second term. At the end of 2024, before being sworn in, Trump stated that he did not rule out the use of economic or even military pressure against Greenland, arguing that the United States “needed” it.
In December 2024 – during the nomination of the new US ambassador to Denmark, Kenneth Howery (co-founder of PayPal and former US ambassador to Sweden) – Trump again expressed his interest in “buying Greenland”, which he had already talked about in 2019.
In early January 2025, Trump refused to rule out the possibility of an invasion of Greenland or Panama when asked whether the US could use military force to seize the Arctic island or the Panama Canal. He then said: 'We need Greenland for national security reasons.
– he also added.
In a post on Truth Social on December 23, 2024, Trump wrote: “To ensure national security and freedom around the world, the United States believes that the possession and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity“.
Trump doesn't just talk about Greenland – he methodically ratchets up the tension, and this pattern is strikingly reminiscent of the escalation path the world has already seen in the case of Venezuela. The question stops being “is it a bluff” and becomes: how far he will go this time.
In January 2025, the president's son Donald Trump Jr. made a private visit to Greenland. Local media reported that people close to Trump handed out MAGA hats to residents and tried to talk to them.
Donald Trump Jr. (third from left) during a visit to Nuuk, Greenland. He is accompanied by, among others, conservative activist Charlie Kirk (fourth from left), January 7, 2025EMIL STACH / RITZAU SCANPIX / RITZAU SCANPIX VIA AFP / AFP
In March 2025, US Vice President JD Vance paid a surprise visit to Greenland, but did not leave the American base where he was staying. Greenlandic and Danish politicians condemned the visit, calling it a provocation against the Kingdom of Denmark.
“We need to wake up after 40 years of failed consensus that we can ignore invasions by powerful states that expand their ambitions,” Vance told U.S. soldiers at the Pituffik base.
We cannot simply bury our heads in the sand – and in Greenland in the snow – and pretend that the Chinese are not interested in this vast area
– he added.
In the context of Vance's visit, Pituffik Space Base commander Susannah Meyers (the highest-ranking US officer in Greenland) stated that the Trump administration's threats against the Kingdom of Denmark “do not reflect the position of Pituffik Space Base.” Meyers was later fired by Trump.
“Nobody will fight with the US”
In May 2025, when Trump said he would talk to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney about “transforming Canada into the 51st US state,” he noted that he did not expect the use of military force in this matter. But he made no similar declaration regarding Greenland.
Honestly, something could happen with Greenland. We need it for national and international security. I don't see this happening in Canada
Trump said in an interview with NBC News.
In June 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated that the Pentagon had developed plans to take control of Greenland and Panama by force — if necessary.
On December 22, 2025, Trump appointed the first American “special envoy” for Greenland and announced: “we have to have it.”
US President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One, January 11, 2026.Samuel Corum/Getty Images/Getty Images
On January 4, 2026, the day after Maduro's capture, Trump threatened Greenland, and a day later his deputy Stephen Miller said that “no one will fight militarily against the United States for the future of Greenland.”
That same day — after the illegal military intervention in Venezuela — Trump suggested that Colombia, Cuba, Iran, Mexico or Greenland might be next.
On January 7, 2026, a White House spokeswoman said outright that the use of military force remains an “active option” to take control of Greenland.
On January 8, 2026, Trump gave an interview to the New York Times. The newspaper reported that Trump stated in the evening that his power as commander-in-chief is limited only by his own morality — ignoring international law and other restrictions on the use of military force against other states. In the same interview, Trump also said that “ownership is very important.”
Trump's rhetoric before the intervention in Venezuela
It is worth comparing Trump's statements regarding Greenland with his rhetoric regarding the use of force against Venezuela.
In 2017, during his first term, Trump said he was “not ruling out a military option” to solve the deepening crisis in Venezuela.
In January 2023, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo published his memoir Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love [pol. Nigdy nie ustępuj ani na jotę: walka o Amerykę, którą kocham]. In the book, he claimed that during the first Trump administration, the US implemented aggressive actions to influence Venezuela's policy:
- economic pressure during the 2018 elections,
- attempts to persuade Maduro to resign,
- recognition of the diplomatic status of businessman Alex Saab,
- and even discussing options for military intervention.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during the U.S. Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 18, 2024.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP/Getty Images
Pompeo also mentioned that the idea of buying Greenland (even though it was not for sale) was “one of the best ideas” that a president has ever had.
In August 2025, Marco Rubio announced that he was “doubling the reward for the arrest of dictator Nicolas Maduro to $50 million.” [ok. 180 mln zł] for violating US drug laws.
Maduro is the head of the brutal Cartel de Los Soles, a narco-terrorist organization that has taken control of Venezuela. Maduro MUST be brought to justice
– he also added.
CNN reported in September 2025 that Trump was considering various options for military attacks on drug cartels operating in Venezuela, including targets inside the country — as part of a broader strategy to weaken Maduro.
In October 2025, a memo obtained by the Associated Press allegedly showed that Trump had issued a memorandum recognizing cartels as illegal combatants and that the US was in a state of “armed conflict” with these organizations. Trump then admitted that authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.
In December 2025, the US seized a Venezuelan tanker, and Trump said he had ordered a blockade of all “sanctioned tankers” entering and leaving Venezuela.
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In late December 2025, information emerged that the CIA was behind a drone attack on a docking zone that was to be used by Venezuelan drug cartels.
Finally, on January 3, 2026, the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores during a military operation in Caracas. Trump announced that the US “will continue to run the country until there is a safe, appropriate and reasonable transition of power.”
Greenland and the right to independence
According to a UN explanatory article, Inuit have lived in Greenland for thousands of years, but had no state structures when Denmark (re)conquered the island in 1729. Nordic settlers lived in Greenland for almost half a millennium before disappearing at the end of the Middle Ages.
The United States occupied Greenland during World War II and later established military bases there. The 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the US gave the Americans extensive military access to the island. During the Cold War, the US maintained up to 50 bases and radar stations there. Today, one remains — Pituffik Space Base — with about 150 U.S. troops. According to the UN report, this facility located on the shortest trajectory of potential missiles between Russia and the USis a key element of the US missile defense system.
Vice President of the United States J.D. Vance (center) at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, March 28, 2025.Pool / Pool / Getty Images
In 1979, Greenland officially became an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark – with internal competences (education, police, judiciary, taxes), but remained under Danish sovereignty in the areas of defense, foreign policy and currency. Autonomy gradually increased through successive referenda, with the 2009 Autonomy Act being an important step.
This historic agreement between the Greenlandic authorities and the Danish government recognized the Greenlanders as a separate nation under international law and gave them the right to secede from the Kingdom of Denmark if a majority of the inhabitants so chose.
However, the UN report indicates that in the event of independence, the island would have to significantly increase its revenues to compensate for the loss of Danish subsidies, which exceed EUR 575 million per year. [ponad 2 mld zł].
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Greenlanders say no to America
After the creation of the UN in 1945, Greenland was classified as a “non-self-governing territory” under pressure from the US and France.
In a declaration submitted to the UN in 1954, Denmark declared that the Greenlanders had voluntarily agreed to be an integral part of the state, therefore Greenland can no longer be treated as a colony. At the same time, the UN report notes that the scope of consultations was very limited, which was already controversial at the time.
Denmark remains responsible for Greenland's foreign policy. He plays an active role at the UN, including: within the framework of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples.
In January 2025, a survey published by Danish and Greenlandic media indicated that 85 percent Greenlanders oppose joining the USonly 6 percent is in favor, and 9 percent no opinion.
Greenlandic people gather in the city center to protest the President of the United States, Nuuk, Greenland, March 15, 2025.AA/ABACA / PAP
The USA has had a hankering for Greenland for a long time
The strategic importance of Greenland for the US was already recognized in the times of Abraham Lincoln and in the context of the purchase of Alaska from Russia in the 19th century. After the purchase of Alaska in 1867, then Secretary of State William Seward wanted to extend the transaction to also include Greenland.
Only in 1917 did the USA recognize Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland, as part of the agreement related to the purchase of the Danish West Indies [dzisiejszych Wysp Dziewiczych USA].
In 1945, the United States offered Denmark $100 million. [ok. 359 mln zł] for Greenland, but the offer was rejected by the government in Copenhagen.
During his first term in 2019, Trump publicly expressed his desire to “buy Greenland.” The idea was immediately rejected by both Denmark and Greenland, who again emphasized that the territory was not for sale.
