Diplomatic sources to KL: This is how Europe is trying to untie Trump’s Greenland knot

President of the United States Donald Trump already in his first presidential term wanted to buy Denmark’s Greenland. At the time, the Danes thought the proposal was ridiculous. According to an EU diplomat interviewed by Kauppalehti, Trump was hurt by being ridiculed, and getting the world’s largest island remained an obsession for the president.

According to Trump, the United States must get Greenland because it is vital to the country’s national security. The president has said that he will take over the self-governing Danish island either by agreement or by using tougher means.

“One way or another, we’re going to get Greenland,” Trump told reporters on Sunday, according to media reports.

EU ambassadors discussed the Greenland issue at a “bunker meeting” held in Brussels on Friday. According to diplomatic sources, many countries expressed their concern about the escalation of the crisis, but there was little concrete information available to resolve the situation.

According to diplomatic sources, Greenland was talked about “tongue-in-cheek” because they don’t want to annoy Trump, because for many EU countries the most important thing is that the United States remains in support of Ukraine.

According to the sources, the joint European solution to Greenland is also being slowed down by the fact that Denmark does not want to bring the Greenland issue to the EU level for resolution.

According to information from Kauppalehti, the person in charge of the EU’s foreign and security policy Kaja Kallaksella there would have been a desire to put the matter on the EU’s agenda, but Denmark did not want it, because the country is afraid that there will be no consensus on the issue. The split in the ranks is due to the fact that many countries depend on the United States economically and for their security.

One diplomat described the realism of EU countries like this: “Hardly any EU country would go to war against the United States if Trump decided to take over Greenland by force.”

However, many key EU countries, such as France, Italy, Germany, Poland and Spain, have expressed their strong support for Greenland’s right to self-determination.

Dollar offer

According to media reports, the Trump administration has considered a financial incentive for every Greenlander to make them amenable to the US purchase offer. A one-time payment for each of the 57,000 Greenlanders could be between $10,000 and $100,000.

On Wednesday, the Vice President JD Vancen and Foreign Minister Marco Rubion The central message of the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers meeting at the White House is that Greenland is not for sale.

This was also underlined by the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Prime Minister of Greenland Jens-Frederik Nielsenwhen they held a press conference in Copenhagen on Tuesday.

“One thing everyone needs to understand: The United States does not own Greenland. Greenland will not be part of the United States,” Nielsen stressed.

Greenland’s prime minister said in Strasbourg in October that Greenland “has no plans” to apply for EU membership, but on Tuesday Nielsen said bluntly that “if we have to choose here and now, we will choose Denmark, NATO and the EU”.

Greenland is not officially part of the EU, but a couple of years ago the EU increased its presence on the arctic island by opening an office in Nuuk. At the same time, the EU signed 94 million euro investment agreements with Greenland for, among other things, education and green growth.

President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen recently promised that the EU intends to speed up its Arctic security projects in Greenland. In addition, he said that the EU could double the funding for Greenland in the next multi-year budget to a total of around 530 million euros.

Crisis solvers

The EU can give financial support to Greenland, but the only real player in security matters is NATO.

This was also emphasized on Wednesday by Commission President von der Leyen, who said that in Arctic security, NATO is a key forum for coordinating the different interests that the allies have.

Diplomatic sources interviewed by Kauppalehti also believe that the best chance to get the Greenland knot caused by Trump to be opened is through NATO. It is done in such a way as to show Trump Europe’s strong commitment to strengthening Arctic security, and in this way tries to counter Trump’s threats to take over Greenland by force.

However, the challenge is to convince Trump that the European NATO allies are capable of fending off the threat posed by Russia and China. According to NATO, Russia is implementing significant military equipment in the Arctic and is allied with China.

NATO sources in Brussels told Kauppalehti that there are currently discussions in the alliance about strengthening NATO’s role in the Arctic region.

This was also confirmed by the Secretary General of NATO at the Global Europe Forum held in Brussels on Tuesday evening Mark Ruttewho said that NATO already had a very thorough discussion about the Arctic in the summer and “now we are taking the next steps”.

Great Britain, Germany and France lead a European group that is considering increasing the military presence in Greenland and establishing the so-called Arctic Sentry monitoring operation.

Rutte said on Tuesday that discussions about Arctic security and NATO’s role in the region will already take place in the coming weeks.

The chairman of the European Parliament’s security and defense committee also believes in the soldiers’ ability to convince Trump Marie‑Agnes Strack‑Zimmermann (FDP/Renew).

“As far as NATO is concerned, I am relatively optimistic that the military leadership and SACEUR (Supreme Allied Commander Europe) will be able to explain to the US president that the security issue of Greenland is a matter for NATO,” says Strack‑Zimmermann.

“Unless it’s a matter of Trump just wanting to plant his flag in Greenland like the Wild West”, continues the German politician.

An important meeting

Strack‑Zimmermann considers it significant that key EU countries and Trump-supporting Italy condemn the US president’s intentions to take over Greenland by force.

“European countries have been very clear to the United States when they message Trump: ‘Don’t even think about it.’

The chairman of the Security and Defense Committee thinks it is very important that the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland go to the White House on Wednesday to speak directly to their American counterparts, because there have been problems in communicating with the United States in the past.

“I am optimistic that the United States understands what they are talking about.”

Strack‑Zimmermann reminds us that Denmark and the US already have a 1951 agreement that allows the US to increase its military presence and exploit Greenland’s mineral reserves if they choose.

A more pessimistic position is represented by Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen, who said on Tuesday that “there are many signs that the worst is yet to come”.

In the worst case scenario, a US attack on Greenland would lead to the end of NATO.

On Tuesday, NATO’s Secretary General did not take a position on the US’s Greenland policy, but assured that all NATO allies work together to strengthen the security of the Arctic region.

“Regarding this issue, the allies have no disagreements,” Rutte said.

Military presence reinforced

On Wednesday, it was reported that Denmark is sending soldiers and military material to Greenland. Told about it Danish public radio DR citing its sources.

The mission of the forward force sent to Greenland is to take care of logistics and other preparations for a possible later increase in troops.

Denmark’s goal is to move towards a more permanent and wider military presence in Greenland.

The Danish Defense Forces commented to DR that they have increased their activities in the Arctic region over the past year based on, among other things, contracts in the defense sector.

“Among other things, the armed forces are constantly training for the implementation of the performance of the Arctic region and are present as part of the general execution of tasks and preparation for future operations.”

The story was updated on 14.1.2026 at 4:45 p.m.: added a comment given by the Danish Defense Forces to DR.