Why there's no coming back if America invades Greenland
Despite warnings from the Danish Prime Minister and other world leaders, Trump is gearing up to invade Greenland. Would this spell the end of “everything” for Western alliances?
Listen to this article
Read time: 4 mins
In brief…
- Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s chief of staff, has said that Greenland should be part of America. Following the US invasion of Venezuela, this long-held MAGA ambition now seems more likely to become a reality.
- Danish PM Mette Frederiksen has said that capturing Greenland too would be the end of “everything” that holds together the Western alliance – and The News Agents agree.
- Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall say NATO could not survive an attack by one member against another, and that Trump’s military manoeuvres in neighbouring countries are all about securing his own legacy as president.
What’s the story?
Donald Trump wants Greenland. He's made no secret of that.
Following a strategically successful invasion of the oil-rich Venezuela, which he now says is under his personal control, his attention has turned back to the Danish territory, rich in rare-earth minerals and other valuable resources.
Trump has said Greenland is needed by the US for defence.
Stephen Miller, Trump's deputy chief of staff and a key figure in the MAGA movement and administration, has stated that Greenland "should be part of the US", cast doubt on Denmark's control and said no one will "fight the US military over the future of Greenland".
“Miller is the intellectual underpinning of MAGA, of America First, although sometimes he sounds like he's from a skit on Saturday Night Live, with the anger and the fury,” says Jon Sopel.
“It is so revealing about so much of the thinking of this administration – if America wants it, it has it.”
British politicians across the spectrum, cautious in their comments on the US invasion of Venezuela, have widely condemned any attempt to take Greenland by force.
But Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has issued a more stark warning over any US military action in Greenland.
She has said that a US invasion would mean the end of "everything" – referring to the existence of NATO (of which Greenland is a part), and all sense of "post-second world war security" that has existed for decades.
Why the end of ‘everything’ is a real threat
The News Agents first spoke about Trump’s intentions for Greenland in January 2025 – one year on and his administration now appears to be making the moves it promised.
“This is being taken very seriously,” says Lewis Goodall, who says Trump and his administration are tightening the screws on both Greenland and Denmark.
“This is different because this concerns what is effectively European sovereign territory. It is Danish sovereign territory. It is part of the NATO alliance.”
But there’s one thing Lewis does agree with Stephen Miller on – no one would step in if America tried to take Greenland by force.
“European powers aren't going to fight them,” he says.
“But what it would do, at a stroke, is destroy the fundamental pillar of US, European and Western geopolitical security – which is the NATO Alliance.
“You would have two NATO Allies going to war with each other effectively, which has never happened before. How can any defensive alliance possibly endure when one member of that alliance has become an offensive power against another member of the Alliance's sovereign territory?”
Why Trump wants Greenland so badly
Greenland has an estimated population of just 56,000 people, spread over an expansive 2.1 million kilometres of land.
But it’s not the picturesque landscape that interests the president – it’s what lies beneath.
“What do Venezuela and Greenland have in common? They both have a lot of rare earth minerals,” says Jon.
“Venezuela has oil, but in Greenland there are all sorts of things that are vital for setting up AI data centres and the like.
“If there is a global battle going on, it is between China and the United States for dominance of all of that.”
America, he adds, needs the natural stores of graphite, uranium to compete with China, which also has designs on Greenland itself.
Trump’s personal stake in taking Greenland for America
But this is Donald Trump we are talking about, and while he may say his mantra is “America first”, his top priority will always be his own personal gain – and he sees that in both claiming Venezuela, and the potential taking of Greenland.
“Donald Trump is looking for a legacy,” says Lewis.
“He's looking to do something that other American presidents have not done for a long time – he's looking to expand American territory. He's looking for a real estate deal, in whatever form that takes.
“I think he would prefer to basically bully the Danes and the Greenlanders into giving them what they want, but is refusing to take military action off the table.”
Lewis says there are two options ahead.
“Trump may just move on and get bored, and he does that – but the other option feels disturbing to me,” he adds.
“That would basically be the destruction of the NATO alliance. That binary, to me, is scary.”