White House says ‘all options’ on the table for Greenland : NPR

Snow-covered houses are seen from the sea in Nuuk, Greenland, March 6, 2025.

Evgueni Maloletka/AP

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Evgueni Maloletka/AP

The White House supports President Trump’s interest in Greenland, saying “all options” are on the table as the administration considers a possible acquisition of the Danish-controlled territory.

“All options are still on the table for President Trump as he considers what is in the best interest of the United States, but I will just say that the president’s first option has always been diplomacy,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday.

His comments come amid growing concern among administration critics about the muscularity of U.S. foreign policy following the military operation in Venezuela on Saturday that led to the arrest of the country’s President, Nicolas Maduro.

Trump has repeatedly expressed support for the United States’ acquisition of Greenland, since his first term in 2019. Trump has said Greenland is vitally important to U.S. priorities in the Arctic and has expressed interest in the territory’s large quantities of rare earth minerals.

“Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships everywhere,” Trump told reporters over the weekend. “We need Greenland from a national security perspective, and Denmark will not achieve that.”

The president’s continued focus on Greenland poses a test for transatlantic relations.

In a joint statement released Tuesday, leaders of seven European countries defended Greenland’s sovereignty, saying it “belongs to its people.”

“It is up to Denmark and Greenland, and them alone, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” say the leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Several European leaders, including Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, sharply rejected Trump’s comments, saying an attack on Greenland by the US military would jeopardize the NATO military alliance.

Trump addressed tensions within NATO in an article on Truth Social Wednesday morning, saying the United States “will always be there for NATO, even if it won’t be there for us.”

Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that previous presidential administrations had also considered making a play for Greenland, but when asked why the White House was not ruling out the use of military force to take control of the country, she pushed back.

“I know that past presidents and leaders have often excluded certain things. They have often been very open about deciding and releasing their foreign policy strategy to the rest of the world, not just to our allies, but, more blatantly, to our adversaries. That’s not something this president does,” she said.

Speaking from Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Leavitt, telling reporters that Trump’s interest in Greenland has remained unchanged since his first administration. Rubio said military intervention was not an administration preference, but he did not rule out the possibility.

“Every president retains that option,” Rubio said. “I’m not talking about Greenland. I’m just talking about the whole world.”

Among Republican leaders in Congress, talk of military intervention in Greenland has been met with skepticism. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Los Angeles, told reporters Wednesday that while the United States sees “geopolitical and strategic importance” in Greenland, “we are not at war with Greenland.” We have no intention – we have no reason to be at war with Greenland.”

“There are a lot of thoughtful discussions to be had there, and that’s what we expect,” he added. “So all this talk of military action and all that, I don’t think it’s, I don’t even think it’s a possibility. I don’t think anyone is seriously considering that. And in Congress, we certainly aren’t.”

Democrats have largely rejected the idea of ​​military intervention against the island and its approximately 57,000 residents. On Tuesday, Senator Ruben Gallego, Democrat of Arizona, said he intended to introduce a resolution to stop Trump from “invading Greenland.”

“We need to stop him before he invades another country on a whim,” Gallego wrote on social media.