A group of European countries, led by the United Kingdom and Germany, is discussing plans to establish a military presence in Greenland as a way to show U.S. President Donald Trump that the continent takes Arctic security seriously and to try to curb American threats to take control of the autonomous Danish territory.
Germany plans to propose the creation of a NATO joint mission to protect the Arctic region, according to people familiar with the plans. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, for his part, has been pressing allies to reinforce security presence in the far north and recently contacted leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to discuss the issue.
The U.S. operation to capture the Venezuelan leader this month, combined with heightened rhetoric from the Trump administration about the possibility of using military force to control Greenland, led European leaders to hurriedly assemble a strategy. They want to demonstrate that Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have the region’s security under control, while trying to weaken Trump’s argument to take Greenland, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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Germany’s Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, will meet this week with the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, where the Greenland question and the role NATO can play in regional stability will be addressed.
“As Arctic security is becoming increasingly important, I also want to discuss during my trip how we can better assume this responsibility within NATO — in light of old and new rivalries in the region, from Russia and China — together,” Wadephul said in a statement released on Sunday. “We want to discuss this jointly within NATO.”
Although Trump has long talked about turning Greenland into part of the United States for security reasons, his focus on the autonomous island has intensified in recent days after the U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
The action reignited fears among allies about Trump’s willingness to resort to the Armed Forces to achieve his foreign policy objectives. The heated rhetoric about Greenland triggered intense diplomatic activity as authorities try to better understand the president’s intentions.
Trump stated on Sunday night that the United States will “own” Greenland.
“We are talking about acquiring, not leasing, not for a short term, we are talking about acquiring, and if we don’t do this, Russia or China will — and that won’t happen while I am president,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from Florida.
Trump acknowledged that the United States already has a large military base in Greenland. He said he could reinforce the contingent at the installation, but added that “we need to have ownership. You really need the title, as they say in real estate.”
Germany is expected to propose the creation of a NATO mission named “Arctic Sentry” to safeguard the region’s security, according to the sources. The alliance’s “Baltic Sentry” mission, launched a year ago to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, would serve as a model.
According to people familiar with the matter, Starmer believes the best path for the United Kingdom and Europe is to convince Trump of the value they offer, in terms of soft power and military power, to U.S. interests — from Russia’s war in Ukraine to America’s security closer to home. This stance contrasts with the more critical line publicly adopted by countries such as France, which this week warned that Europe is under threat of coercion by the United States.
Starmer spoke with Trump last week and “discussed Euro-Atlantic security, agreeing on the need to deter an increasingly aggressive Russia in the High North,” Downing Street said. “NATO needs to increase its presence in the region,” Starmer told Macron and Merz.
For now, Denmark still bets that a diplomatic trip to Washington next week could help calm Trump. Denmark’s and Greenland’s foreign ministers, Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Vivian Motzfeldt, intend to challenge what Copenhagen describes as persistent factual errors and exaggerated security claims that have fed the debate.
Although the president said he does not rule out the use of military force to acquire the Arctic island, Rubio told lawmakers on Tuesday night that the objective is to buy Greenland, and not to push for an intervention that could test NATO’s future.
“The legitimate interests of all NATO allies, but also those of the region’s inhabitants, must be at the center of our considerations,” Wadephul said. “It is clear that this also applies to Greenland and its people.”
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