What’s Going On With Greenland?
Photo from Peter Platou via Pexels.
If you’ve been paying attention to news recently, you most likely have heard talk of Greenland and territorial disputes. President Trump has made numerous statements about wanting to take over Greenland, and annex it as a 51st state, which is proposed in a bill by a United States congressman (Republican Congressman Proposes Bill to Make Greenland 51st State, 2026). President Trump claims to want to annex Greenland as a way to “protect” it, but the military protections and natural resource benefits the United States would receive from Greenland stands out as a motive for annexation instead. Russia and China have been lumped into this conversation due to the natural resources that Greenland could provide for China’s strong economy in technology and the geographical location of Greenland in the Arctic that could provide strength and surveillance for Russia. There are many different angles that political leaders are coming from in order to gain power, and the global impact of this territorial debate is broken down below.
Greenland has been under some aspect of Danish ownership for centuries, but one most notable territorial event was in The Treaty of the Danish West Indies in 1916. The United States recognized Greenland as official territory of Denmark when the United States acquired the Danish West Indies, now the US Virgin Islands, in 1916 (Legal Clarity Team, 2025). This treaty allowed the United States to have power over an array of islands which would be beneficial for military power, especially naval. When this treaty was signed, the United States recognized Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland. Ironically enough, 110 years later, the United States now wants sovereignty over Greenland.
Greenland was granted autonomy within Danish rule in 2009, where it was granted its own government, but still overseen by Denmark for foreign relations and defense purposes. Denmark has ruled peacefully over Greenland, and the way of life for individuals living there has been content. Although Greenland has a relatively small population for the country’s substantial size, the people of Greenland live sustainable and peaceful lives. Greenland has universal healthcare and education and values an environmentally clean way of life, while still practicing traditional hunting and fishing techniques. Unfortunately, Greenland has been facing struggles as a result of global warming, which interestingly enough, the United States is one of the top contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and negative impacts on global warming (CO2 Emissions – Global Energy Review 2025 – Analysis, n.d.). It appears that some of the benefits that Greenland has may be stripped away if annexed by the United States.
President Trump aims to take over Greenland due to concerns about Russia and China taking over Greenland first. However, some false statements have been made by President Trump. President Trump claimed that there are Russian and Chinese destroyers surrounding Greenland. Andreas Østhagen, a research director for Arctic and ocean politics stated that, “there are no Russian and Chinese ships all over the place around Greenland. Russia and/or China has no capacity to occupy Greenland or to take control over Greenland.”
Additionally, a Greenland business minister, Naaja Nathanielsen, responded to President Trump’s claims about Chinese and Russian military presence with the statement, “we don’t detect an actual threat” (FACT FOCUS: Trump Repeats False Claims When Discussing Greenland's Security in the Arctic, 2026).
When President Trump was asked about making an offer to Denmark about taking over Greenland, he falsely stated, “Basically, their defense is two dog sleds. You know that? You know what their defense is? Two dog sleds” (Wehner, 2026). Greenland itself doesn’t have a military, but is protected by the military of Denmark. With recent global tensions, France, Germany, Norway, and Sweden have joined Denmark in protecting Greenland from The United States military (Burridge, 2026). With multiple countries from NATO coming together to protect Greenland, the statement that two dog sleds are defending the country is a lie.
Greenland appears to not be extremely worried about being taken over by Russia and China, but rather, more concerned about the threat of being taken over by the United States. Although there are some clear benefits that Greenland could provide to China, Russia, and the United States, the annexation of an autonomous country that is protected by NATO seems to be a selfish and corrupt choice that could erupt into a larger scale conflict involving unnecessary countries. Historically speaking, political leaders taking over countries for power and control has proven to result in more destruction than when left alone.
References
Burridge, T. S. (2026, January 15). France, other NATO countries send troops to Greenland for exercises after meeting with Vance and Rubio. ABC News. Retrieved January 19, 2026, from https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/france-nato-countries-send-troops-greenland-exercises-after/story?id=129241103
CO2 Emissions – Global Energy Review 2025 – Analysis. (n.d.). IEA. Retrieved January 19, 2026, from https://www.iea.org/reports/global-energy-review-2025/co2-emissions
FACT FOCUS: Trump repeats false claims when discussing Greenland's security in the Arctic. (2026, January 13). AP News. Retrieved January 19, 2026, from https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-greenland-denmark-trump-arctic-security-russia-china-6346aa8e86be594e467e8cc18f98357b
Legal Clarity Team. (2025, December 17). When Did the U.S. Acquire the Virgin Islands? https://legalclarity.org/when-did-the-u-s-acquire-the-virgin-islands/
Republican congressman proposes bill to make Greenland 51st state. (2026, January 13). CBS News. Retrieved January 19, 2026, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/greenland-randy-fine-bill-51st-state/
Wehner, G. (2026, January 11). Trump says US must acquire Greenland to block Russia, China threats. Fox News. Retrieved January 19, 2026, from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-says-greenlands-defense-two-dog-sleds-he-pushes-us-acquisition-territory
