Trump-Greenland Tensions

Trump recently threatened Greenland, an autonomous, self-governing territory of the NATO ally Denmark. On Sunday, President Trump told reporters on Air Force One, “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security.” His other justifications were that if the US didn’t “do something” about Greenland, Russia and China would. The international community remains skeptical about these statements, viewing his claims as a cover for underlying motivations, such as taking advantage of the island’s vast reserves of rare earth elements. He also mentioned that he would like to do it the “easy way,” but he wouldn’t hesitate to do it the “hard way” if Greenland failed to comply.

Trump’s statements have spurred widespread condemnation, with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson condemning the US “threatening rhetoric” as a violation of international law. All five of Greenland's political parties issued a joint statement rejecting U.S. annexation, saying, “We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danish, we want to be Greenlanders.”

Rather than seeing this as a form of harmless diplomatic pressure, European leaders remain extremely cautious. Ever since Trump’s invasion of Venezuela and capture of its President Nicolas Maduro, the chance of the Trump administration violating a country’s sovereignty is no longer an unthinkable scenario, forcing European allies to consider the possibility of a takeover. This could be especially bad for the world’s largest defense-spending bloc, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 

Several NATO members fear that this would spell death for NATO, with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen claiming, “If the United States decides to attack another NATO country, then everything would stop – that includes NATO and therefore post-World War II security.” A United States attack on Greenland would strike at NATO’s core commitment to collective defence, which holds that an armed attack against one Ally is treated as an attack against all Allies, as explained in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. If the US were to invade Greenland, it would trigger Article 5, requiring all other NATO members—including the US—to defend Denmark against the American invasion. Since NATO operates through consensus, all 32 members would have to unanimously agree in the North Atlantic Council to initiate a counterattack. That means that even if a single member objects, no measures can be taken under Article 5. The US would never attack itself, so they would certainly object. Thus, by making the organization's core security guarantee unenforceable, NATO’s authority and legitimacy would be severely diminished. 

European leaders, such as those in France and Germany, have stated that they are preparing a plan in the event the United States follows through on its threat to take over Greenland.

Read more here:

•  Anders Kongshaug, Claudia Ciobanu and Stefanie Dazio, AP News

• Amelia Nierenberg and Maya Tekeli, NYT

• Sophie Tanno and Samantha Waldenberg, CNN