Denmark vows to defend Greenland as Trump threatens troop pullout
Denmark has flatly rejected renewed US demands to cede control of Greenland, a standoff that threatens to upend European security if Washington follows through on a pledge to withdraw American troops from the continent.
US President Donald Trump has renewed his calls for the United States to take control of Greenland, using the Nato summit in Ankara to threaten the withdrawal of American soldiers from Europe if Denmark refuses to comply.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed the demand outright. “Greenland is, of course, not for sale,” she told reporters, stressing the need for allies to respect Denmark’s territorial integrity and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination.
When asked if Denmark would militarily defend the territory, Frederiksen warned that the alliance must stand together. “We are ready to defend every inch of Nato, including our own territory,” she said. “One of the reasons why we built Nato many, many years ago is if anything happens to one of us, then everybody should stand up for each other.”
Trump framed his demand around strategic competition, sitting alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to claim the Arctic island is surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships. He argued that Denmark does not spend enough to support Greenland and accused Europe of failing to handle immigration and energy, warning: “If they’re not careful with those two things, you’re not going to have a Europe anymore.”
For European capitals, the threat to remove US soldiers represents a direct challenge to the continent's security architecture. Linking a territorial demand against a sovereign Nato member to a potential mass troop withdrawal creates immediate uncertainty for European defense planning and broader economic stability.
The episode revives a diplomatic crisis that flared earlier this year, when Trump only backed down from threatening broad European tariffs after interventions by other leaders. Despite the latest rhetoric, Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte indicated on Wednesday that a broader Arctic framework deal with the US would proceed.
“The Greenland deal agreed with the US would be implemented ‘step by step’,” Rutte said.
Frederiksen remained defiant, stating her hope that the US position is matched by global recognition that a takeover “is not going to happen.”
