Nuuk, Greenland on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. Oscar Scott Carl/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS
From the Iran war to steep new tariffs to threatening to make Canada "the 51st state," U.S. President Donald Trump has often clashed with longtime U.S. allies and fellow members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Another source of tension is Greenland: Other NATO members vehemently oppose Trump's proposal for the United States to take over the Arctic Island and Danish territory.
Trump, earlier this year, wasn't ruling out the possibility of taking Greenland by force.
According to The Independent's Maira Butt, the U.S. "is seeking to expand its military presence in Greenland just two months after" Trump "threatened to take over the island."
Butt, in an article published on April 2, reports, "According to American military officials, Washington is seeking access to three additional bases on the Arctic territory, including two that they had previously abandoned. It follows days of tension between Trump and Europe after the U.S. leader said he was 'absolutely' considering withdrawing America from NATO over a lack of support in the Iran war, which has driven a further wedge between him and other western leaders."
The "plan for an increased American presence over the autonomous territory," Butt notes, is "being considered under the 1951 Danish-American defense pact."
According to Butt, "The treaty already allows the U.S. sweeping military access to Greenland and was used to push back against Trump's threats to previously seize the entire territory, which he considered crucial to America's strategic interests…. At the moment, the Pituffik Space Base is the sole U.S. military base in the territory and is situated on the northwest coast of the island. It is central to early warning and missile defense as well as space surveillance for the U.S."
Trump, Butt notes, "faced widespread backlash from the European Union" earlier this year.
"Trump has had his eyes on Greenland since 2019, when he first publicly floated the idea of purchasing the territory from Denmark," Butt writes. "Earlier this year, Europe was thrown into mayhem after Trump said that the U.S. 'needed' Greenland and demanded control of the territory 'right now,' threatening to impose extortionate tariffs on countries that prevented the move or disagreed."
