White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller gave a new defense for Donald Trump’s Greenland power grab.
Miller presented a new law to defend the U.S.’ aggressive campaign to acquire Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, during an appearance on Hannity on Friday night.
He claimed that, under “the law,” nations were not entitled to their territory if they were unable to defend it. The Trump aide belittled the Danish government, saying its “tiny” military was inadequately protecting Greenland.
“With respect to Denmark, Denmark is a tiny country with a tiny economy, and a tiny military,” Miller told host Sean Hannity. “They cannot defend Greenland. They cannot control the territory of Greenland. Under every understanding of law that has existed about territorial control for 500 years, to control a territory you have to be able to defend a territory, improve territory, inhabit a territory. Denmark has failed on every single one of these tests.”
Annexation and territorial conquest are illegal under international law, but Trump has not ruled out military action. The United Nations Charter—which the United States is a member of—Article 2, Section 4, specifically addresses the matter of threat or use of force against “the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.”
Trump has stated that the U.S. will take Greenland “one way or another.”
“The new domain of international competition is going to be polar competition,” Miller continued. “That is where more and more resources are being spent by our nation’s adversaries and rivals. The ability to control movement, navigation back lanes of travel in the polar and arctic regions.”
Miller’s comments came after Trump, who dubbed himself “The Tariff King,” threatened to impose tariffs on countries that got in the way of his plans for Greenland. The president made good on his threats on Saturday morning, announcing new tariffs on eight European countries until a deal is made for the U.S. to take the territory.
Trump imposed a 10% tariff on all goods imported from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland starting on Feb. 1. The rate will increase to 25% beginning on June 1.
“This Tariff will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland,” the president shared on Truth Social.
Trump ranted about how the acquisition of Greenland was important to “world peace” and American security. The president has emphasized the need for Greenland in his plans to build a “Golden Dome,” which is a proposed defense system around the U.S. He also claimed that Denmark would be unable to defend the territory against attacks from other countries.
“China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it,” he posted.
Ahead of the tariff announcement, thousands marched across Denmark on Saturday to protest against Trump’s proposed acquisition of Greenland. Others rallied in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk.
The president has faced massive pushback for his proposed conquest of Greenland, even from members of his own party. Several GOP lawmakers have tried to stop Trump, 79, from carrying out his plans. Sen. Mitch McConnell blasted the proposal, saying it was “incinerating the hard-won trust of loyal allies in exchange for no meaningful change in U.S. access to the Arctic.”
