Seoul Gazette - Trump plots to buy Greenland as NATO ally Denmark seethes

Trump has repeatedly refused to rule out force to seize the strategic Arctic island, prompting shock and anger from Denmark and other longstanding European allies of the United States.

After a request from Copenhagen, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would soon hold discussions with Danish representatives.

"I'll be meeting with them next week. We'll have those conversations with them then," Rubio told reporters.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump and his national security team have "actively discussed" the option of buying Greenland.

"His team is currently talking about what a potential purchase would look like," she told reporters.

Leavitt reiterated that Trump believed it was in the US interest to acquire sparsely populated Greenland, whose size is around that of the largest US state of Alaska.

"He views it in the best interest of the United States to deter Russian and Chinese aggression in the Arctic region. And so that's why his team is currently talking about what a potential purchase would look like," Leavitt said.

Neither Leavitt nor Rubio ruled out the use of force. But Leavitt said, "The president's first option, always, has been diplomacy."

House Speaker Mike Johnson, speaking as Rubio and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth briefed lawmakers, also downplayed the potential for a US attack.

"I don't think anybody's talking about using military force in Greenland. They're looking at diplomatic channels," Johnson said.

Johnson, however, has acknowledged he had no prior notice when Trump on Saturday ordered a deadly attack on Venezuela, in which US forces removed the president, Nicolas Maduro.

The at least tactical success of the operation has appeared to embolden Trump, who has since mused publicly about US intervention in Greenland, Cuba, Iran, Mexico and Colombia.

- 'Stay focused on real threats' -

Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican who is retiring, criticized Trump's threats in a joint statement with Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"When Denmark and Greenland make it clear that Greenland is not for sale, the United States must honor its treaty obligations and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark," they said in a joint statement.

"We must stay focused on the real threats before us and work with our allies, not against them, to advance our shared security."

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen has repeatedly insisted that the island is not for sale and that only its 57,000 people should decide its future.

Denmark holds sovereignty over Greenland, which has semi-autonomous status.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned Monday: "If the United States decides to military attack another NATO country, then everything would stop -- that includes NATO and therefore post-World War II security."

Denmark is a founding member of NATO and has been a steadfast US ally, including controversially sending troops to support the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.

Trump, in sharp contrast to previous US presidents, has criticized NATO, seeing it not as an instrument of US power but as smaller countries freeloading off US security.

"We will always be there for NATO, even if they won't be there for us," Trump wrote Wednesday on his Truth Social platform.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul put a brave face on Trump's language on NATO and Greenland.

"I have no doubt whatsoever that we will remain closely united and that this alliance will remain exactly what it has always been -- the most effective defense alliance," he said.

E.Yeon--SG