KLIK SAJA - The world’s largest island, blanketed in ice, Greenland—along with oil-rich Venezuela—has recently drawn global attention.
It is hardly surprising. Less than a year into Donald Trump’s presidency of the United States (U.S.), his policies have shaken both countries and, at the same time, posed challenges to the global order and international peace.
The first policy concerns the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the Trump administration, accompanied by a statement that the U.S. would take control of Venezuela’s oil industry.
This move was followed by an equally controversial proposal: Trump’s plan to annex Greenland, a territory that is de jure and de facto part of the Kingdom of Denmark, despite enjoying a special autonomous status.
Trump has not explicitly declared his intention to take control of Greenland in an official statement.
However, in his most recent remarks, he emphasized the importance of “protecting” Greenland from perceived threats posed by Russia and China.
“A country has to own, and you defend ownership. You don’t defend a lease. And we have to defend Greenland,” Trump told reporters on Friday (January 9, 2026).
Trump’s initial effort to “own” Greenland reportedly involved the option of purchasing the territory. In a statement from the White House, such a move was described as feasible, given that both the U.S. and Denmark are members of NATO.
Nevertheless, Trump has not ruled out the use of coercive measures should a purchase prove impossible.
These statements triggered strong reactions from Denmark and Greenland. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, together with Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, warned the United States to respect internationally recognized sovereignty and territorial boundaries.
Both leaders stressed that the annexation of Greenland—by any means and for any reason—cannot be justified.
Although talk of annexing Greenland has resurfaced only recently, the idea itself is far from new.
Long before Trump took office, the United States had already demonstrated an interest in the Arctic territory.
A report titled A Report on the Resources of Iceland and Greenland, compiled in 1868 by Benjamin Mills Peirce and the U.S. Department of the Interior, shows that the U.S. government had long set its sights on Greenland.
