A Top Trump Aide Intensifies Assertions to Take Over Greenland

A key figure from Donald Trump's senior advisors has ramped up the pressure on the Danish government by challenging Denmark's sovereign claim to Greenland.

Force Deemed Unnecessary

Stephen Miller, also claimed military intervention would not be needed to assume control of the Arctic territory because “nobody is going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland”.

“What do you mean military action against Greenland? Greenland has 30,000 inhabitants people,” Miller inaccurately claimed, the correct number being closer to 57,000.

He also suggested that Copenhagen lacks a legitimate right to the region, which is a former Danish colony and remains part of the Danish kingdom.

Escalating Diplomatic Strains

These remarks come amid growing tensions between the two NATO allies after the US president’s renewed calls to annex Greenland.

The Danish foreign policy committee has convened an extraordinary meeting to discuss the kingdom’s relationship with the United States.

Speaking to media, Miller asserted that dominion of the island could be achieved without military intervention due to its small population.

Questioning Danish Sovereignty

“The real question is what right does Denmark have to exercise sovereignty over Greenland? What is the basis of their territorial claim?” he asked.

He added: “The US is the power of NATO. For the US to secure the Arctic region to defend NATO, it is logical that Greenland should be part of the US.”

He stated there was “no need to even think or talk about” a armed takeover in Greenland, adding: “Nobody is going to fight the US militarily.”

International Reactions

His comments came after Trump remarked recently, following events in Venezuela, that the US needed Greenland “very badly”.

Denmark's leader, Mette Frederiksen, reacted by saying that an American aggression against a fellow alliance member would mean the collapse of the military alliance and “post-Second World War security”.

Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, issued a forceful rebuke, calling on the US president to abandon his “fantasies about annexation” and accused the US of being “wholly inappropriate”.

Background and Present Position

Miller’s comments were preceded by his wife, podcaster Katie Miller, shared a digital image of Greenland under a US flag with the caption “SOON”.

When questioned on the social media post, he laughed and said: “It has been the formal position of the US government since the beginning of this administration... Donald Trump has been very clear about that.”

Greenland was under colonial rule until 1953, when it was integrated of the Danish realm. The US has had a military base there, critical to its national missile defense network.

Recently, there has been growing support for Greenlandic independence, particularly after disclosures about Denmark’s treatment of Greenlandic people.

But amid the spectre of acquisition talk, Greenland in March formed a new coalition government in a demonstration of solidarity, with its founding document declaring: “Greenland belongs to us.”