How the US could take control of Greenland

TT

Published 20.08

          

          

         The flags of the Faroe Islands, Denmark, Greenland and the US outside the Danish defence                     headquarters in the port of Nuuk, Greenland. Archive image

         1 / 2Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Taking control of Greenland is necessary for US national security, according to President Donald Trump.

Here are different ways of how it could be done in practice.

A fundamental problem for Trump is that Greenland is a partially self-governing part of Denmark and that according to opinion polls, the inhabitants do not want to become Americans. But the US ambition to take over the strategically important and mineral-rich island in one way or another is clear.

Influence campaign in support of independence

An independent Greenland would give the US the opportunity to find a solution directly with the Greenlanders without Danish interference.

The path to that is primarily through a Greenlandic referendum – and American attempts to stoke the independence movement can already be said to be underway.

Trump has appointed a special envoy to Greenland, and both Vice President JD Vance and the president's son Donald Trump Jr. made high-profile visits to the island last year.

In August, Danmarks Radio also revealed that at least three Americans with connections to the White House had surveyed the residents' opinions and worked to establish contacts with politicians and businessmen.

Agreement on free association

In the event of independence, opportunities open up. Since the Greenlanders oppose American citizenship, one option is a so-called agreement on free association, similar to what the United States has with the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau.

This provides self-government and free trade, while the United States is responsible for defense, financial support and more.

A source within the White House recently told NBC News that an association agreement is one of the possibilities being considered.

Pressuring Europe with Ukraine as an ace

Denmark's EU allies have aligned themselves against the US's aggressive rhetoric. But Trump has a card to play that could cause support to waver, reports Politico, which has spoken to a number of diplomats and security experts: Ukraine.

A key issue in the peace negotiations on Ukraine is how secure the US's security guarantees actually would be.

A possible scenario is a package deal - where the Trump administration gives strong guarantees in exchange for an expanded role in Greenland. In practice, the Europeans are then forced to back down so as not to risk, for example, sanctions or the US backing out of the Ukraine negotiations.

Military invasion

A US military attack to annex Greenland would currently likely meet limited resistance.

But the invasion would violate both US and international law, destroy NATO and have consequences that are difficult to foresee. This is stated by Romain Chuffart at the Arctic Institute think tank for Politico.

– The USA would shoot itself in the foot.