Trump rebuffs NATO offers and presses for U.S. ownership of Greenland

President Trump has pressed for American ownership of Greenland and rejected European offers of defense partnerships, escalating a dispute over the Arctic territory and prompting threats of tariffs that have strained relations within NATO. The strategic importance of Greenland has grown as melting ice, rival navies and undersea cables make the Arctic more contested, and the article says NATO members long underinvested in Arctic security.

Mr. Trump has turned aside European proposals short of outright ownership, demanding all 836,000 square miles of Greenland, and has moved quickly to impose tariffs based on a presidential declaration of an “emergency” that he has not defined. The piece notes the United States already has broad rights under a 1951 treaty to reopen about 16 former military bases in Greenland and could, for a few billion dollars, build ports, runways and radar stations rather than seek to buy the territory outright.

European leaders have responded with increased military presence and higher Danish defense spending; the German vice chancellor said Europe “must not allow ourselves to be blackmailed,” and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb warned of a “dangerous downward spiral.” Mr. Trump has suggested he might choose between his territorial ambitions and preserving the alliance—“It may be a choice,” he said—and insisted that “Ownership is very important,” adding, “I don’t think it’ll be necessary” to use force.

Key Topics

Politics, Donald Trump, Greenland, Nato, Denmark, Tariffs