Just six months after a tense standoff over Greenland seemed to fade, US President Donald Trump has revived his campaign to acquire the autonomous Danish territory, reopening a wound that many in Europe hoped had healed. Speaking at the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that Greenland "should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark," dismissing Copenhagen's annual subsidy of nearly €600 million as insufficient.
The following day, Trump doubled down, claiming the island is "very important for the United States, but it's not important for Denmark" and expressing displeasure with NATO's handling of the matter. The remarks forced Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to once again defend her country's territorial integrity against a fellow alliance member—a deeply unusual scenario at a military summit.
"The US position is, unfortunately, very clear on this topic. But our position is as clear as it has been all through: Greenland is not for sale," Frederiksen told reporters in Ankara. "We are ready to defend every inch of NATO, including our own territory."
A Painful Déjà Vu
For European leaders, the episode is a traumatic flashback to January, when Trump threatened tariffs on eight European countries to coerce Denmark into ceding Greenland. That five-day crisis brought the transatlantic alliance closer to collapse than at any point in its 77-year history, prompting an emergency EU summit in Brussels. The standoff was defused only after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte brokered a "framework deal" in Davos to enhance Arctic security.
Since then, Copenhagen and Nuuk have quietly pursued trilateral talks with Washington to update the 1951 defence agreement governing the island. But progress has been slow. In May, The New York Times reported that the US is seeking a permanent clause on military deployments and veto power over new investments—demands that directly challenge Greenlandic sovereignty. Rutte has promised to "make sure the deal is step-by-step implemented" to allow Trump to eventually install the Golden Dome missile defence system on the island.
Danish officials privately warn that the White House may resort to non-military means to advance annexation, urging European peers to stay vigilant. In Brussels, the matter is handled with extreme caution. During last month's G7 summit in Évian, a camera caught Trump telling European Council President António Costa, "You understand? Greenland." Costa's team strenuously denied the topic was discussed, despite widespread circulation of the footage.
The European Commission responded to Trump's latest comments with a carefully worded statement: "Territorial integrity, national sovereignty and inviolability of borders are fundamental principles of international law. The EU stands in full solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland." The Commission is also updating its Arctic security strategy to strengthen the European presence in the region and counter Trump's long-standing complaint that Europe is not pulling its weight. President Ursula von der Leyen had planned to visit Greenland in March to unveil a beefed-up financial package, though the trip was postponed.
The episode underscores a deeper unease: that the transatlantic relationship, already strained by trade disputes and divergent priorities, remains vulnerable to the whims of a single leader. As one EU diplomat put it, "We cannot afford to be complacent. The threat is not just about Greenland—it's about the principle that allies do not covet each other's territory."
