Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Gabriel Osa
In an extraordinary and highly controversial move that has reverberated across diplomatic capitals, **U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly directed senior military leaders to prepare contingency plans for a possible military invasion or acquisition of Greenland, the vast Arctic territory governed by Denmark. The development — first reported by multiple international media outlets — has triggered alarm among military officials, European governments, and Arctic nations, raising urgent concerns about international law, sovereignty and the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
According to reports, Trump asked commanders, including the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), to develop strategic options for Greenland’s takeover amid heightened geopolitical competition in the Arctic region. The proposal has reportedly been presented as a response to perceived strategic threats posed by Russia and China in the high north, with Trump and some advisers arguing that control over Greenland is vital to U.S. national security.
Senior U.S. military leaders — including the Joint Chiefs of Staff — have pushed back against the directive, warning that any plan to invade Greenland would be unlawful under international law and could not proceed without congressional authorisation. Diplomatic sources cited by the reporting media described internal efforts to divert Trump’s focus to less controversial operations, with officials characterising the Greenland plan as unrealistic and fraught with legal peril.
Pentagon officials are said to be resisting the order, reiterating that deploying U.S. forces to seize territory from an allied nation would violate longstanding alliances and norms that have governed global order since World War II. Given Greenland’s status as an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark and a key NATO partner in the Arctic, such a course of action could threaten the very foundations of the alliance.
Greenlandic political parties and the territory’s government have issued a unified and emphatic rejection of any forced takeover, declaring that Greenlanders “do not want to be Americans… we want to be Greenlanders” and asserting their right to self-determination. Leaders from across the political spectrum have condemned the U.S. proposal as unacceptable interference in their sovereign affairs.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has echoed these sentiments at the highest level, stating unequivocally that the United States has no right to annex Greenland and warning that any attempt to do so would fundamentally undermine NATO and its mutual defence commitments. She and other European allies have urged the U.S. to respect international law and Denmark’s territorial integrity.
Greenland occupies a position of immense strategic importance. Situated between North America and Europe, it serves as a linchpin in Arctic security and climate-change geopolitics, with vast mineral resources and new maritime routes emerging as polar ice recedes. Greenland also hosts existing U.S. military installations under bilateral agreements, but these fall far short of outright sovereignty or control.
Trump’s reported push to develop invasion plans follows his earlier, long-standing interest in acquiring Greenland — an idea he first floated in 2019 — and more recent diplomatic and military actions, including increased tension with Denmark and warnings about Russian and Chinese expansion in polar regions. Critics argue that an invasion plan, even at the contingency level, risks escalating tensions that could draw the United States into a broader geopolitical crisis.
The reports have triggered a sharp international reaction. NATO allies and European leaders have reiterated their support for Greenland’s autonomy and expressed concern that unilateral U.S. military ambitions could fracture key alliances. Some European capitals are reportedly engaging in coordinated responses to protect Arctic stability and deter any coercive action.
Meanwhile, the U.S. body politic remains sharply divided over the issue. Critics at home warn that pursuing such a plan without broad legal and political backing from Congress would violate both domestic and international norms, with potentially devastating diplomatic ramifications.
As the debate unfolds, world leaders, defence analysts and legal scholars are watching closely. An invasion or forced acquisition of Greenland, if ever attempted, would represent an unprecedented challenge to the post-World War II international order and test the durability of alliances that have underpinned global security for decades.
At present, the proposal remains at the planning stage, with reports stressing that no military action has yet been ordered and that strategic discussions are ongoing. Nevertheless, the very suggestion that the United States could contemplate invading a peaceful, allied territory has rattled governments from Copenhagen to Beijing, highlighting the fragility of global norms in an era of intensifying geopolitical competition.
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