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US President Donald Trump is exploring how to take control of Greenland and using the US military is “always an option,” the White House said, further upping tensions with Nato ally Denmark. 

Washington’s stark warning came despite Greenland and Denmark both calling for a speedy meeting with the United States to clear up “misunderstandings”. 

The US military intervention in Venezuela has reignited Trump’s designs on the autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic, which has untapped rare earth deposits and could be a vital player as melting polar ice opens up new shipping routes. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States,” to deter adversaries like Russia and China. 

“The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilising the US military is always an option at the commander in chief’s disposal,” she said in a statement to AFP. 

Trump’s renewed claims over self-governing Greenland have stoked concerns in Europe that the transatlantic alliance with the United States could be about to fracture. 

Earlier, Greenland and Denmark said they had asked to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio quickly to discuss the issue. 

“It has so far not been possible,” Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt wrote on social media, “despite the fact that the Greenlandic and Danish governments have requested a meeting at the ministerial level throughout 2025”. 

Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said meeting Rubio should resolve “certain misunderstandings”. 

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen again insisted that the island was not for sale and only Greenlanders should decide its future. 

His comments came after Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain joined Denmark in saying that they would defend the “universal principles” of “sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders”. 

“For this support, I wish to express my deepest gratitude,” Nielsen wrote on social media. 

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen again insisted that the island was not for sale and only Greenlanders should decide its future. Photo / AFP 

Washington already has a military base in Greenland, which is home to some 57,000 people. 

Trump hinted on Sunday that a decision on Greenland may come “in about two months,” once the situation in Venezuela, where US forces seized President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, has stabilised. 

The European leaders’ joint statement called Arctic security “critical” for international and transatlantic security. 

Denmark, including Greenland, was part of Nato, it added, urging a collective approach to security in the polar region. 

The statement was signed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. 

“Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” the statement said. 

But Macron and Starmer both sought to play down the issue as they attended Ukraine peace talks in Paris alongside Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. 

(From L) Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, France's President Emmanuel Macron and Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer shake hands upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine today. Photo / AFP 

“I cannot imagine a scenario in which the United States of America would be placed in a position to violate Danish sovereignty,” Macron said. 

Starmer said he had made his position “clear” in the joint statement – although he did not restate that position in front of the cameras. 

Trump has been floating the idea of annexing Greenland since his first term. 

“It’s like a broken record,” Marc Jacobsen, a specialist in security, politics and diplomacy in the Arctic at the Royal Danish Defence College, told AFP. 

Trump has claimed that Denmark cannot ensure the security of Greenland, saying it had bought just one dog sled recently. 

But Copenhagen has invested heavily in security, allocating some 90 billion kroner (US$14 billion) in the last year. 

-Agence France-Presse