A Congressional Research Service Insight examines US–Greenland–Denmark relations amid intensified US rhetoric, since late 2025, about bringing Greenland under American control. The Trump administration asserts that Greenland — a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark — is vital to US national security for countering Russia and China in the Arctic and for missile defense, while Danish and Greenlandic leaders maintain the territory is not for sale and its future is for Greenlanders to decide. CRS notes the dispute has strained the historically close US–Denmark relationship, become a point of contention in US–European relations, and raised NATO concerns, as the Kingdom of Denmark including Greenland is a NATO member. Greenland has about 57,000 residents, predominantly Inuit, and governs domestic matters including mineral resources, while Denmark handles defense and foreign affairs and provides an annual block grant of roughly $630 million; the 2009 Self-Government Act recognizes Greenlanders’ right of self-determination. US forces have been present since World War II under the 1951 US–Danish defense agreement; today the sole US installation is the Space Force–operated Pituffik Space Base, supporting missile warning, missile defense, and space surveillance. Reported options have included outright purchase or a Compact of Free Association.
(Congressional Research Service, 2026)
Source: Congressional Research Service · original
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