[🇺🇸] Greenland Annexation.

Date of Event: Jan 6, 2026

Source: https://en.prothomalo.com/international/europe/4uwcvakspx

Greenland says 'no more fantasies about annexation' after Trump remarks
Reuters Copenhagen
Published: 05 Jan 2026, 21: 11

An aerial view shows a fjord in western Greenland, 16 September 2025.

Greenland’s leader declared “enough is enough,” and Denmark’s allies in Europe affirmed that the Arctic island’s future must be determined by its people, rebuffing renewed remarks by US President Donald Trump about acquiring the vast territory.

A US military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and Trump’s intention to oversee governance of the oil-rich Latin American country, have rekindled concerns in Denmark that Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, might face a similar scenario.

“Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark must determine the future of Greenland and nobody else,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters. Starmer has sought to stay on good terms with Trump and adopted a less publicly critical approach than most other European leaders.


Trump has repeatedly said he wants to take over Greenland, an ambition first voiced in 2019 during his first presidency. On Sunday, he told The Atlantic magazine in an interview: “We do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defence.”

Trump renews Greenland ambition

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One early on Monday, Trump said he would revisit the topic in a few weeks.

“Threats, pressure, and talk of annexation have no place between friends,” Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Facebook late on Sunday. “Enough is enough. (...) No more fantasies about annexation.”

On 21 December, Trump appointed Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as special envoy to Greenland. Landry has publicly expressed support for incorporating Greenland into the United States.

Greenland’s strategic location between Europe and North America makes it a critical site for the U.S. ballistic missile defence system. The island’s significant mineral resources also align with Washington’s ambition to reduce dependence on Chinese exports.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Monday that Greenland belongs to Denmark and suggested NATO could discuss strengthening its protection if necessary.

France also expressed solidarity, saying Greenland belonged to the people of Greenland, while a European Commission spokesperson said that the EU will continue to uphold the principle of national sovereignty.

Support for Denmark and Greenland also came swiftly from all Nordic and Baltic leaders. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Sunday that U.S. comments about needing to take over Greenland made “absolutely no sense”.​

 

[Saif]

Trump announces Greenland 'framework', backing off force and tariffs

US President Donald Trump backed down Wednesday on threats to seize Greenland by force from ally Denmark, announcing a vague deal aimed at ensuring security of the Arctic territory. Trump cast his retreat -- also lifting the promise of sanctions against European nations that spoke out against...

en.prothomalo.com

Trump announces Greenland 'framework', backing off force and tariffs

AFP Davos, Switzerland
Published: 22 Jan 2026, 09: 52

US President Donald Trump looks on as he leaves the congress centre during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2026. The World Economic Forum takes place in Davos from January 19 to 23 January, 2026 AFP

US President Donald Trump backed down Wednesday on threats to seize Greenland by force from ally Denmark, announcing a vague deal aimed at ensuring security of the Arctic territory.

Trump cast his retreat -- also lifting the promise of sanctions against European nations that spoke out against the threats to Denmark -- as a win, saying the deal gives Washington "everything we wanted".

The agreement, he told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, was negotiated with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and would last "forever".

"I think it puts everybody in a really good position, especially as it pertains to security, and minerals and everything else," Trump said, hours after a speech in which he appeared to remove the threat of force to seize Greenland.

However, there was no sign that Trump had succeeded in his repeated vow to make Greenland part of the United States.


When asked if Denmark would continue to control the territory, Rutte said the subject of Greenland's sovereignty "did not come up" in his talks with Trump.

Speaking to Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier," Rutte gave few details of what the new status for Greenland might be, only saying that NATO would continue to work for securing the Arctic region from adversaries such as Russia or China.

The NATO chief meanwhile told AFP that "there's still a lot of work to be done".

Trump said in a social media post that he would be scrapping tariffs of up to 25 percent threatened against Denmark and other European allies that have sent troops to Greenland in solidarity, including Britain, France and Germany.

NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said that Denmark, Greenland, and the United States will negotiate on "ensuring that Russia and China never gain a foothold -- economically or militarily -- in Greenland" -- a key stated concern of Trump.

Some relief in Europe, markets

Global markets that had been rattled by the rift and the threat of tariffs saw relief, with Wall Street's key indices climbing.

Trump's threats had triggered one of the biggest transatlantic crises in decades, with warnings that he could single-handedly destroy NATO through aggression against a fellow member.

His apparent turnaround brought guarded relief in Denmark, long a steadfast US ally, where Trump's bellicose language has triggered shock and feelings of betrayal.

"Trump said that he will pause the trade war, he says, 'I will not attack Greenland'. These are positive messages," Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told Danish public television DR.

Lokke had flown last week to Washington and met Vice President JD Vance, only to say afterward that the United States had not budged on seeking to control Greenland.

But Aaja Chenmitz, one of two Greenlandic lawmakers in the Danish parliament, questioned why NATO would have a voice on the island's mineral wealth.

"NATO in no case has the right to negotiate on anything without us, Greenland. Nothing about us without us," she posted.

In Nuuk, where authorities started handing out brochures on how to live through a crisis, 65-year-old pensioner Lis Steenholdt said that Greenland and Denmark had been firm that the island is not for sale.

"You have to believe the system. That's the only option we have right now," Steenholdt said.

Facing down Trump

Trump has repeatedly said that the United States, the key force in NATO, deserves Greenland as it would be forced to defend the island against Russia or China, although neither country holds any claim to the island.

Addressing Davos for the first time in six years, Trump called Denmark "ungrateful" but appeared to take the threat of military action off the table.

"I don't want to use force. I won't use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland," Trump said.

Trump, 79, repeatedly referred to Greenland as Iceland in his speech.

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney won a standing ovation at Davos on Tuesday when he warned of a "rupture" in the global order long championed by Washington. French President Emmanuel Macron for his part said Europe would not be bullied.

Trump attacked both leaders, mocking Macron for wearing sunglasses at Davos, which the French president said was because of an eye condition.​

 

[Saif]

More Europeans see Trump as ‘enemy’ than ‘friend’

A half of Europeans surveyed in seven EU countries view US president Donald Trump as an ‘enemy of Europe’, according to a poll published Friday.

www.newagebd.net

More Europeans see Trump as ‘enemy’ than ‘friend’
Agence France-Presse . Paris, France 23 January, 2026, 23:32

A half of Europeans surveyed in seven EU countries view US president Donald Trump as an ‘enemy of Europe’, according to a poll published Friday.

Fifty-one per cent view Trump as an ‘enemy of Europe’, while just eight per cent consider him to be a ‘friend of Europe’, according to the survey of more than 1,000 people in each of France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark and Poland.

Some 39 per cent think he is ‘neither one nor the other’, it said, after polling participants between January 13 and 19, following Trump’s threats to seize the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland.

Danes were among those who most considered Trump to be an ‘enemy’, with 58 per cent of those polled believing this.

Across all seven nations, 44 per cent said Trump ‘behaves like a dictator’, while another 44 per cent think he has ‘authoritarian tendencies’.

Just 10 per cent consider that ‘he respects democratic principles’.

Europe has struggled to set red lines as its once-close American ally has turned hostile under Trump, even threatening its sovereignty.

While Trump this week backed down on seizing mineral-rich Greenland by force, European countries say they remain vigilant for any next move from the US leader.

Trump on Wednesday said Europe was ‘not heading in the right direction’.

A US national security strategy released in December by Trump’s administration said migration was threatening Europe with ‘civilisational erasure’, and called for ‘cultivating resistance’ among right-wing parties.​