US Vice-President JD Vance said that Greenland is “critical” for the defense of the US and the world against a possible missile attack by Russia or China – and that Europe and Denmark “have not done a good job” of securing the area.
Vance told Fox News that they not only invested in defenses in Greenland, but also failed to engage with President Donald Trump’s argument on the issue.
US officials are “actively” discussing a potential offer to buy Greenland – a semi-autonomous Danish territory – the White House said on Wednesday, a day after the US suggested military action to annex it was also an option.
Denmark, a fellow NATO member, has warned that this is the end of the alliance.
Greenland and Denmark have repeatedly stressed that the island is not for sale.
Despite being the least populated territory, Greenland’s location between North America and the Arctic makes it well placed for early warning systems in case of missile attacks, and for monitoring ships in the region.
Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base, has been operated by the US since World War II.
In recent years, there has also been growing interest in Greenland’s natural resources – including rare earth minerals, uranium and iron – which are becoming more accessible as its ice melts due to climate change. Scientists think it may also have large reserves of oil and gas.
“People don’t realize that the entire missile defense infrastructure is partially dependent on Greenland,” Vance said in his interview Wednesday.
“If God forbid the Russians and the Chinese – not saying they will go – but if, God forbid, someone launches a nuclear missile on our continent, they launch a nuclear missile on Europe, Greenland is a critical part of that missile defense.
“So you ask yourself, ‘are there Europeans, have the Danes done a proper job of securing Greenland and making sure it continues to serve as an anchor for world security and missile defense?’ And the answer is clearly they don’t,” he said.
Concerns about the territory’s future have resurfaced after Trump used military force against Venezuela on Saturday to arrest its President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump previously made an offer to buy the island in 2019, during his first term as president, only to be told it was not for sale.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that he will talk to Denmark next week.
A day earlier, European leaders issued a joint statement rallying behind Denmark.
“Greenland belongs to its people, and only Denmark and Greenland can decide matters concerning their relations,” the leaders of France, UK, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Denmark said in a joint statement.
Stressing that they are as passionate as the US on Arctic security, the European signatories said that this must be achieved by Nato allies, including the US, “together”.
They also called for “upholding the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders”.
Aaja Chemnitz, one of two MPs in the Danish parliament representing Greenland, told the BBC that the comments from the Trump administration were “a clear threat”.
“It is absolutely disrespectful from the US side not to reject the annexation of our country and the annexation of another NATO ally,” he said.
But Chemnitz said he saw this as unlikely and instead, “what we see is that they will put pressure on us to make sure they get Greenland over time”.
Aleqatsiaq Peary, a 42-year-old Inuit hunter living in the remote northern town of Qaanaaq in Greenland, appeared indifferent to the potential of US ownership.
“It can be transferred from one master to another, from one occupier to another,” he told the BBC. “We are a colony under Denmark. We have lost a lot from being under the Danish government.”
Saying he had “no time for Trump”, he added that people “need”. Hunters like him, he explained, look for sea ice dogs and fish “but the sea ice is melting and the hunters can no longer make a living”.
Additional reporting by Adrienne Murray in Copenhagen