FILE PHOTO: A man walks as Danish flag flutters next to Hans Egede Statue ahead of a March 11 general election in Nuuk, Greenland, March 9, 2025. REUTERS/Marko Djurica/File Photo
U.K. officials met with their European counterparts from Germany and France to begin a mission deploying troops to the Arctic for President Donald Trump.
The Telegraph reported Sunday that the military is "drawing up plans" now for a possible North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mission on the Danish island that the U.S. president has said he "needs" for national security purposes. While Trump has claimed that he would buy the island, his top aide, Stephen Miller, said that Greenland has only 30,000 people who live there, and claimed no one would fight the U.S. if it invaded.
The plans remain in the early stages, but it could involve "British soldiers, warships and planes being deployed" with the aim of protecting Greenland from hostile actors like Russia and China.
The hope is that with the NATO allies protecting the island, Trump may "abandon his ambition to annex the strategic island," said the report.
It could allow Trump to de-escalate his threats of a takeover and brag that Europe was paying for policing the area rather than the American taxpayers. Greenland is a territory of Denmark, which is a NATO member. However, it seeks independence from any parent country.
Trump appears to believe that Russia or China will invade Greenland and wants to do it earlier than they do.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the Telegraph, “We share President Trump’s view – Russia’s growing aggression in the High North must be deterred, and Euro-Atlantic security strengthened."
“NATO discussions on reinforcing security in the region continue, and we would never get ahead of those, but the UK is working with Nato allies to drive efforts to bolster Arctic deterrence and defence," he added. "The U.K. will continue to work with allies – as we always have – on operations in our national interest, protecting people back at home.”