Senior Trump aide says no country would fight US over Greenland’s future
To secure Arctic region, to protect NATO, 'obviously, Greenland should be part of the United States,' says Stephen Miller
WASHINGTON
A senior aide to US President Donald Trump said Monday that no country would militarily challenge the United States over the future of Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
Stephen Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff, made the comments during an interview with CNN, where he dismissed the idea that US interest in Greenland would lead to armed conflict.
When asked directly whether military action against Greenland was off the table, Miller reframed the issue, arguing that the question was not about confronting Greenland itself.
"It wouldn’t be military action against Greenland. Greenland has a population of 30,000 people. The real question is by what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark?" he said.
Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, a NATO ally of the US. Miller questioned that arrangement while emphasizing Greenland’s strategic value to US and NATO security interests in the Arctic.
"The United States is the power of NATO. For the United States to secure the Arctic region, to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, obviously, Greenland should be part of the United States, and so that's a conversation that we're going to have as a country," he said.
Pressed again on whether he could rule out the use of US military force to seize Greenland, Miller declined to frame the issue in military terms, asserting that armed conflict was unrealistic.
"The United States should have Greenland as part of the United States. There's no need to even think or talk about this in the context that you're asking, of a military operation. Nobody's going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland," he said.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to take control of Greenland and has not ruled out doing so with military force.
A day after a US military operation in Venezuela that captured President Nicolas Maduro, Trump on Sunday renewed his calls for an American takeover of Greenland for the sake of US security interests.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has urged Trump to “stop the threats.”
