What are potential ‘onerous methods’ Trump might attempt to take Greenland?

[ad_1] Since taking the White Home in January final 12 months, President Donald Trump has repeatedly mentioned that he needs to annex Greenland “very badly,” with a spread of choices on the desk, together with a army assault.

Amid opposition from Greenlandic lawmakers, Trump doubled down on Friday, threatening that the USA is “going to do one thing [there] whether or not they prefer it or not”.

“If we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland. And we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbour,” Trump mentioned at a gathering with oil and fuel executives on the White Home.

“I wish to make a deal, you recognize, the straightforward method. But when we don’t do it the straightforward method, we’re going to do it the onerous method,” he added.

For the reason that abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro final week from Caracas in a army operation, Trump and his officers have upped the ante towards the Greenlandic capital, Nuuk.

So, what are the ways in which US President Trump might take management of Greenland, a territory of Denmark?

Is Trump contemplating paying out Greenlanders? Paying out to Greenland’s almost 56,000-strong inhabitants is an possibility that White Home officers have been reportedly discussing.

Situated largely inside the Arctic Circle, Greenland is the world’s largest island, with 80 p.c of its land coated by glaciers. Nuuk, the capital, is probably the most populated space, dwelling to about one-third of the inhabitants.

Trump’s officers have mentioned sending funds to Greenlanders – starting from $10,000 to $100,000 per particular person – in response to a Reuters report, in a bid to persuade them to secede from Denmark and doubtlessly be a part of Washington.

Greenland is formally part of Denmark, with its personal elected authorities and guidelines over most of its inside affairs, together with management over pure assets and governance. Copenhagen nonetheless handles international coverage, defence and Greenland’s funds.

However since 2009, Greenland has the precise to secede if its inhabitants votes for independence in a referendum. In idea, payouts to Greenland residents could possibly be an try to affect their vote.

Trump shared his ambitions of annexing Greenland throughout his first time period as properly, terming it “basically a big actual property deal.”

If the US authorities had been to pay $100,000 to every Greenland resident, the overall invoice for this effort would quantity to about $5.6bn.

A boy throws ice into the ocean in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 11, 2025 [Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo] Can the US ‘purchase’ Greenland? Earlier this week, White Home spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed to reporters on Wednesday that Trump’s officers are “actively” discussing a possible supply to purchase the Danish territory.

Throughout a briefing on Monday with lawmakers from each chambers of Congress, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio advised them that Trump would favor to purchase Greenland relatively than invade it. Rubio is scheduled to carry talks with Danish leaders subsequent week.

Each Nuuk and Copenhagen have repeatedly insisted that the island “is just not on the market”.

There are few fashionable historic precedents to match Trump’s threats with Greenland, very like the kidnapping of Maduro on his orders.

The US bought Louisiana from France in 1803 for $15m and Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2m. Nevertheless, each France and Russia had been prepared sellers — not like Denmark and Greenland at this time.

Washington has additionally bought territory from Denmark prior to now. In 1917, the US, underneath President Woodrow Wilson, purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m throughout World Battle I, later renaming them the USA Virgin Islands.

Normal view of the Nuuk Cathedral, or the Church of Our Saviour, in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 30, 2021 [Ritzau Scanpix/Emil Helms via Reuters] Can Trump actually simply repay his method? Whereas Greenlanders have been open to departing from Denmark, the inhabitants has repeatedly refused to be part of the US. Practically 85 p.c of the inhabitants rejects the concept, in response to a 2025 ballot commissioned by the Danish paper Berlingske.

In the meantime, one other ballot, by YouGov, exhibits that solely 7 p.c of People assist the concept of a US army invasion of the territory.

Jeffrey Sachs, an American economist and a professor at Columbia College, advised Al Jazeera, “The White Home needs to purchase out Greenlanders, to not pay for what Greenland is value, which is method past what the US would ever pay.”

“Trump thinks he can purchase Greenland on a budget, not for what it’s value to Denmark or Europe,” he mentioned. “This try to barter instantly with the Greenlanders is an affront and risk to Danish and European sovereignty.”

Denmark and the European Union “ought to clarify that Trump ought to cease this abuse of European sovereignty,” mentioned Sachs. “Greenland shouldn't be on the market or seize by the US.”

Sachs added that the EU must assess “[Greenland’s] monumental worth as a geostrategic area within the Arctic, crammed with assets, very important for Europe’s army safety.” And, he added, “definitely not a plaything of the USA and its new emperor”.

Denmark and the US had been among the many 12 founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Group (NATO) in 1949 to offer collective safety towards Soviet enlargement.

“Europe ought to inform the US imperialists to go away,” Sachs mentioned. “[Today] Europe is way extra more likely to be invaded from the West (US) than from the East,” the economist advised Al Jazeera.

President Donald Trump observes army demonstrations at Fort Bragg, on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Fort Bragg, North Carolina [Alex Brandon/AP Photo] Has the US tried to purchase Greenland earlier? Sure, on a couple of event.

The primary such proposal surfaced in 1867 underneath Secretary of State William Seward, throughout discussions to efficiently buy Alaska. By 1868, he was reportedly ready to supply $5.5m in gold to accumulate each Greenland and Iceland.

In 1910, a three-way land swap was mentioned that will contain the US buying Greenland in alternate for giving Denmark elements of the US-held Philippines, and the return of Northern Schleswig from Germany again to Denmark was proposed.

A extra formal try was made in 1946, instantly following World Battle II. Recognising Greenland’s important position in monitoring Soviet actions, President Harry Truman’s administration supplied Denmark $100m in gold for the island.

However Denmark flatly rejected the concept.

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen talks with the pinnacle of the Arctic Command, Soeren Andersen, on board the defence inspection vessel Vaedderen within the waters round Nuuk, Greenland, on April 3, 2025 [Tom Little/Reuters] Can the US assault Greenland? Whereas political analysts say {that a} US assault to annex Greenland could be a direct violation of the NATO treaty, the White Home has mentioned that utilizing army drive to accumulate Greenland is among the many choices.

Denmark, a NATO ally, has additionally mentioned that any such assault would finish the army alliance.

“We'd like Greenland from the standpoint of nationwide safety, and Denmark isn’t going to have the ability to do it,” Trump advised reporters on Air Pressure One on Sunday. “It’s so strategic.”

Greenland is likely one of the world’s most sparsely populated, geographically huge areas.

However by means of a 1951 settlement with Denmark, the US army already has a major presence on the island.

The US army is stationed on the Pituffik Area Base, previously generally known as Thule Air Base, within the northwestern nook of Greenland, and the 1951 pact permits Washington to arrange extra “defence areas” on the island.

The Thule base helps missile warning, missile defence, area surveillance missions, and satellite tv for pc command and management.

Practically 650 personnel are stationed on the base, together with US Air Pressure and Area Pressure members, with Canadian, Danish and Greenlandic civilian contractors. Beneath the 1951 deal, Danish legal guidelines and taxation don’t apply to American personnel on the bottom.

Denmark additionally has a army presence in Greenland, headquartered in Nuuk, the place its principal duties are surveillance and search and rescue operations, and the “assertion of sovereignty and army protection of Greenland and the Faroe Islands”, in response to Danish Defence.

However the US forces at Thule are comfortably stronger than the Danish army presence on the island. Many analysts imagine that if the US had been to make use of these troops to attempt to occupy Greenland, they might accomplish that with out a lot army resistance or bloodshed.

Trump advised reporters on Sunday that “Greenland is roofed with Russian and Chinese language ships in every single place”. Each world powers have a presence within the Arctic Circle; nonetheless, there isn't a proof of their ships wherever close to Greenland.

A protester holds a banner exterior Katuaq Cultural Middle in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 28, 2025 [Leonhard Foeger/Reuters] Is there an alternative choice for the US? As Trump’s officers mull plans to annex Greenland, there have reportedly been discussions within the White Home on coming into into a kind of settlement that defines a singular construction of sovereignty-sharing.

Reuters reported that officers have mentioned placing collectively a Compact of Free Affiliation, a world settlement between the US and three impartial, sovereign Pacific island nations: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau.

The political association grants the US duty for defence and safety in alternate for financial help. The exact particulars of COFA agreements differ relying on the signatory.

For a COFA settlement, in idea, Greenland would want to separate from Denmark.

Requested why the Trump administration had beforehand mentioned it was not ruling out utilizing army drive to accumulate Greenland, Leavitt replied that each one choices had been all the time on the desk, however Trump’s “first possibility all the time has been diplomacy”.

Why does Trump need Greenland badly? Trump has cited nationwide safety as his motivation for desirous to take Greenland.

For the US, Greenland presents the shortest route from North America to Europe. The US has expressed curiosity in increasing its army presence in Greenland by putting radars within the waters connecting Greenland, Iceland and the UK. These waters are a gateway for Russian and Chinese language vessels, which Washington goals to trace.

However Greenland can be dwelling to mineral riches, together with uncommon earths. In accordance with a 2023 survey, 25 of 34 minerals deemed “important uncooked supplies” by the European Fee had been present in Greenland. Scientists imagine the island might even have vital oil and fuel reserves.

Nevertheless, Greenland doesn't perform the extraction of oil and fuel, and its mining sector is opposed by its Indigenous inhabitants. The island’s financial system is basically reliant on its fishing trade for the time being.