The next steps against Greenland could come as early as weeks, a U.S. official told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview.
President Donald Trump’s desire to annex Greenland remains unimpeded and the United States could take meaningful action regarding the Arctic island within “weeks or months,” according to a senior administration official.
That’s the view of Thomas Dance, the Trump administration’s Arctic commissioner. He is seen as one of the chief promoters of the president’s interest in Greenland, an idea first brought to him by billionaire and former diplomat Ronald Lauder.
Dans has been working on this issue since 2020.
“This is a multi-stop rail line,” he said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY. “Things can move on an express basis, skipping stops and going directly to major stations. That’s where President Trump wants to move faster.”
Still, Dans said he believes significant progress could be made on negotiations and agreements regarding Greenland sooner rather than later, but that he expects the deal will ultimately take longer to complete.
“We need to get the people of Greenland on board,” he said, referring to polls showing that while a majority of Greenland’s 57,000 residents ultimately want to secede from Denmark, a majority do not want Greenland to become the 51st state of the United States. Denmark and Greenland said Greenland is not for sale.
How quickly can the United States acquire Greenland?
Dans added that while “things could happen quickly from a transactional perspective,” “there is a process to gain the trust and support of the Greenlandic people, and this will require time and effort on the part of the United States.”
Dans’ assessment was made when Vice President J.D. Vance hosted a meeting with senior officials from Denmark and Greenland at the White House on Jan. 14, a U.S. official confirmed to USA TODAY.
The meeting, requested by Denmark, was scheduled for a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio amid Trump’s threatening claims that the US must “own” Greenland. But in a sign that momentum on Greenland may be accelerating, Vance will be at the helm of the discussion.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lökke Rasmussen told reporters on January 12 that Mr. Vance had requested his participation in the talks and that Mr. Rubio would continue to attend.
Despite the escalation, Denmark’s government sees the change of venue as an opportunity to promote its vice president, who is close to Trump and last year led a delegation to the only remaining U.S. military base in Greenland.
Speaking from the White House podium on January 8, Mr. Vance advised European leaders to heed Mr. Trump’s warnings regarding Greenland. “What we’re asking our European friends to do is take that continent’s security more seriously, because if they don’t, the United States is going to have to do something about it,” Vance said.
Trump’s preferred options for acquiring the mineral-rich Arctic island are to purchase it outright or gain control through other diplomatic means, according to Trump’s own public comments, White House statements, and people familiar with the wide range of options his administration is actively considering.
President Trump said on January 9, “I want to get a deal the easy way, but if we can’t get a deal the easy way, we’re going to get the deal the hard way.”
President Trump said the United States needs Greenland, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, to prevent its occupation by Russia or China. Dans said he hasn’t ruled out using the U.S. military to obtain it, but said that possibility remains low.
He said the only people who should be alarmed about the US invasion of Greenland are “those living in a state of ignorance” because the US already controls the security environment. “You can’t break in if you’re already there.”
Aside from direct purchases of Greenland, one idea discussed by Trump administration officials is to provide Greenlanders with direct mandatory lump-sum payments worth between $10,000 and $100,000 per person. It is hoped that these payments will persuade Greenlanders to accelerate their independence movement from Denmark.
Under this model, an independent Greenland could enter into a so-called Compact of Free Association with the United States, which would provide exclusive security to the island in exchange for direct payments.
Another idea, also post-independence, could be a proposal for the United States to take a long-term lease of Greenland from Denmark. This would be similar to what China did when it leased Hong Kong territory to Britain for 99 years. But in recent days, President Trump has appeared to shower disdain on the proposal, saying: “Countries have to have ownership, but they protect ownership, not leases. And we’re going to have to protect Greenland.”
Will Denmark agree to give up Greenland?
Danish officials declined to comment on Dans’ remarks and declined to say what compromises the Danish government was willing to make on Greenland.
Opinion polls show that a majority of Greenland’s 57,000 residents ultimately want to secede from Denmark, but a majority do not want Greenland to become the 51st state of the United States.
At a press conference in Copenhagen on January 13, Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said the Greenlandic government’s goal is “a peaceful dialogue based on cooperation, respecting our country’s constitutional status, international law, our country and our right to self-determination.”
However, Nielsen emphasized that “Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States.” Greenland does not want to be ruled by the United States. Greenland does not want to become part of the United States. ”
Denmark provides the strategically located island with $600 million a year in subsidies for welfare services and public infrastructure, as well as additional funding for security and defence. It is not immediately clear how much President Trump would be willing to pay for Greenland if he were to purchase it through a direct sale. In 1946, the United States offered to pay Denmark $100 million in gold to purchase Greenland. The sale was not completed.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a Newsmax interview on January 8 that the United States bought Alaska for “$15 million, which turned out to be a great bargain. Buying Greenland for $5 billion could also be a great bargain.”
President Trump and his top advisers have repeatedly refused to rule out military force if diplomacy fails over Greenland. President Trump’s ambition to seize a vast territory about three times the size of Texas has caused alarm in European capitals, especially given that the United States and Denmark are NATO allies bound by a mutual defense pact. The White House has also expressed an appetite for unorthodox military intervention, such as the January 3 attack that captured Venezuelan strongman President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Syria Flores.
Speaking in Sweden on January 12, European Union Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius warned that US military occupation of Greenland would effectively mean the end of the NATO military alliance. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen used similar terms to describe the impact of the US occupation of Greenland on NATO.
NATO was established in 1949 and was originally intended to establish a military deterrence and counterforce against Soviet forces in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II. It currently has 32 member states and its combat, peacekeeping, training, surveillance and disaster relief missions extend beyond Europe to the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.
One of NATO’s founding provisions, known as Article 5, stipulates that an armed attack against one NATO member state should be considered an attack against all NATO members. The system has only been activated once in its history, after the September 11, 2001 attacks. This led to NATO’s deployment to Afghanistan. A senior European defense official said on condition of anonymity that there is no clause in the NATO treaty that explains the idea of one NATO member attacking another. Danish leader Mette called President Trump’s obsession with Greenland “ridiculous.”
“Today, we already have a defense agreement between Saudi Arabia and the United States, which gives the United States extensive access to Greenland,” he said earlier this month, calling on the United States to “stop the threat.”
Denmark admitted that it was ignoring the territory’s military capabilities. Military forces on the island are limited, with aging ships and dog sled patrols. It has pledged to spend billions of dollars to strengthen security.
Dans said in an interview that Denmark’s claims that it is investing heavily in Arctic security amount to disingenuous rhetoric. “They have 47,000 miles of coastline, only four ships over 30 years old, and two of them don’t have functioning cannons. They’ve made promises and still haven’t delivered.”
He also said he did not expect Trump to back away from efforts to take control of Greenland.
Francesca Chambers contributed to this report.
