America’s global allies have slammed the Trump administration’s ambition to seize Greenland after one of the president’s top aides claimed no one would oppose the U.S. militarily staking a claim to it.
Hours after White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller doubled down on Trump’s push—and defended his wife threatening Greenland in a provocative social media post—America’s major European allies rallied behind the Arctic territory to tell the U.S. to butt out.
“Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” they said, in a stinging rebuke.
The strongly-worded statement was signed by seven of America’s traditional allies, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Republican Congressman Don Bacon, a staunch defender of the US-European alliance, said it was “embarrassing for the U.S. that this statement even has to be made.”
“Denigrating our Allies serves no purpose and there is NO up side,” said the retiring lawmaker from Nebraska.
“It weakens us by diminishing trust between friends, and Russia and China love it. So… stop the stupid “we want Greenland BS.”
The joint statement is emblematic of growing concerns around the world over Trump’s push to dominate the Western Hemisphere.
The president made his intentions clear after the stunning capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro, paving the way for the U.S. to “run” the oil-rich Latin American country.
Immediately after the military operation, Miller’s wife posted a photo of a map of Greenland covered with an American flag on her X account on Saturday, with the caption “SOON.”
Grilled about the CNN post on Monday night, Stephen Miller said Trump had made it clear he wanted to take over the running of Greenland since his first term.
Asked by Jake Tapper if military action to seize the country was off the table, he replied: “The real question is by what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark?”
“The United States is the power of NATO,” Miller said. “For the United States to secure the Arctic region, to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, obviously, Greenland should be part of the United States.”
He added that there was no need to talk about military action, telling Tapper: “Nobody‘s going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland.”
Taking Greenland by force would be the first time a NATO member directly attacked another member’s territory since the alliance was created in 1949.
Trump argues that the U.S. needs Greenland for national security purposes, and securing it is aligned with what he describes as the “Donroe Doctrine”: a vision of a U.S. superpower that could assert its military might to conquer the Western Hemisphere.
But the leaders of Greenland and Denmark have forcefully rejected the idea of annexing the territory.
The Danish foreign policy committee has also called an extraordinary meeting of the country’s parliament for Tuesday night to discuss the Danish kingdom’s relationship with the U.S.
In their statement on Tuesday, which was shared by the Danish prime minister’s office, the European leaders said security in the Arctic must be achieved collectively with Nato allies, including the U.S.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Tuesday, also weighed in.
“The future of Greenland is a decision exclusively for the people of Greenland and Denmark,” Carney told reporters in Paris.
