🔗 Share this article

One of Donald Trump’s senior advisors has increased tensions on Denmark by challenging Denmark's sovereign claim to Greenland.

Force Deemed Unnecessary

The president’s deputy chief of staff, also claimed military intervention would not be needed to take over the northern landmass because “no nation would engage the United States in combat over the fate of Greenland”.

“What do you mean military action against Greenland? Its population numbers just a population of 30,000 people,” he incorrectly stated, the correct number being closer to 57,000.

He also suggested that Denmark does not have a legitimate right to the region, which is a former Danish colony and continues as a constituent country of the Danish kingdom.

Growing Tensions

Miller’s comments come amid increasing friction between the two NATO allies after the US president’s renewed calls to purchase Greenland.

The Danish foreign policy committee has convened an emergency session to examine the kingdom’s relationship with the United States.

Speaking to media, Miller asserted that dominion of the island could be achieved without military intervention due to its limited number of residents.

Challenging Copenhagen's Rule

“The real question is what right does Denmark have to exercise sovereignty over Greenland? What legal foundation of their territorial claim?” he asked.

He added: “As the leading power within the dominant force in NATO. For the US to protect Arctic interests to defend NATO, obviously Greenland should be part of the US.”

There was, he said “no need to even consider or discuss” a armed takeover in Greenland, adding: “Nobody is going to fight the US over this issue.”

Global Responses

His comments came after Trump remarked recently, fresh from events in Venezuela, that the US needed Greenland “very badly”.

The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, reacted by saying that an attack by the US a NATO ally would mean the collapse of the military alliance and “the postwar security order”.

The island's own leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, also made a forceful rebuke, calling on the US president to give up his “notions of acquisition” and labeled American rhetoric of being “wholly inappropriate”.

Background and Present Position

Miller’s comments were preceded by his wife, a conservative commentator, posted a map on social media of Greenland under a US flag with the tag “IN THE NEAR FUTURE”.

Asked about the online image, he laughed and said: “It has been the official stance of the US government from the start of this presidency... The president has been very clear about that.”

Greenland was under colonial rule until 1953, when it became part of the kingdom of Denmark. The US has had a strategic installation there, important for its ballistic missile early warning system.

Recently, there has been growing support for self-rule, especially following disclosures about historical policies of Greenlandic people.

But amid the spectre of Trump’s threat, Greenland in March established a new unity government in a show of national unity, with its agreement stating: “We are the rightful owners of Greenland.”