NUUK, Greenland — Greenland’s government said it “cannot accept” any U.S. takeover and will step up efforts to keep the island’s defense firmly inside the NATO framework as President Donald Trump renews talk of bringing the Danish territory under U.S. control, Jan. 12, 2026.
Officials in Nuuk said Greenland’s security should be handled through the alliance because the territory is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, a NATO member. The statement came as European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius warned that a U.S. military seizure would be “the end of NATO,” framing the dispute as a direct test of the alliance’s credibility.
Greenland NATO: security, sovereignty and alliance red lines
Greenland’s coalition government said it wants closer coordination with Denmark and allies to bolster deterrence in the Arctic, rather than any bilateral arrangement that could be read as a step toward U.S. ownership. The government has also highlighted Greenland’s long-running independence debate, arguing that the island’s future must be decided by Greenlanders under democratic rules and international law.
In recent days, Greenland’s party leaders have also issued public rebukes of Trump’s takeover rhetoric, emphasizing that the island is not for sale and that sovereignty questions are for Greenland’s people to settle. (Read the latest reporting in an AP dispatch from Nuuk.)
Kubilius, speaking at a security conference in Sweden, said the EU could support Greenland’s security if Denmark requested it, but he argued that any attempt to occupy the territory would rupture transatlantic relations. His warning echoed broader concerns in European capitals that a Greenland NATO crisis would pit allies against each other at the moment they are trying to present a united front on Arctic security. (See Reuters’ account of Kubilius’ remarks from Sälen, Sweden.)
What NATO’s and the EU’s defense clauses would mean
NATO’s cornerstone is collective defense: an attack on one ally is considered an attack on all, as set out in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. Kubilius has separately pointed to the EU’s mutual defense clause, which obligates member states to aid and assist a member that suffers armed aggression on its territory.
Greenland NATO tensions didn’t start this week
Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland is not new. In 2019, Greenland’s government said it welcomed investment but was “not for sale,” after reports that Trump had discussed buying the island. (Reuters covered that response in August 2019.)
Denmark’s prime minister at the time, Mette Frederiksen, called the idea “absurd,” saying Greenland is Greenlandic. (Reuters reported her comments later that month.)
Days later, Trump publicly bristled at the rebuff and canceled a planned trip to Copenhagen, underscoring how quickly the issue can spill into alliance politics. (Reuters detailed that episode in August 2019.)
Now, Greenland NATO leaders are trying to channel the dispute into alliance planning rather than brinkmanship — a strategy meant to reassure Greenlanders, deter rivals in the Arctic and keep a fight among allies from becoming a fracture that adversaries could exploit.
