• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Could Trump actually take Greenland following major threat to acquire country through military force

Home> News> World News

Published 20:43 5 May 2025 GMT+1

Could Trump actually take Greenland following major threat to acquire country through military force

He's made noises about wanting to take over Greenland, but could he?

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

Since the beginning of his second term of presidency, Donald Trump has been making lots of noises about the US possibly taking over Greenland, an idea most unwelcome to the people who actually live there.

In the past, he's declared that the US is '100 percent getting Greenland', having claimed that he needs it for security reasons.

Trump's declaration that he'd take Greenland 'one way or another' has not gone down well with Greenlanders, who have made it clear they 'don’t want to be Americans'.

There is a strong independence movement in Greenland to break away completely from Denmark, with it currently being an autonomous territory of the European country, but that is not borne out of a desire to rush into the arms of Trump's America.

Advert

It hasn't stopped a steady stream of threats from the US president, the latest of which was him refusing to rule out the possibility of using military force to take the territory.

No matter how many times Greenland says they don't want to be part of the US, Donald Trump keeps talking about it (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
No matter how many times Greenland says they don't want to be part of the US, Donald Trump keeps talking about it (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

"I don’t rule it out," he said to NBC's Meet the Press yesterday (4 May) when asked if he was willing to bring military force to bear upon Greenland.

"I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything. No, not there. We need Greenland very badly.

"Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.”

Advert

So with Trump refusing to take the option of military intervention off the table, could he actually take over Greenland?

Probably.

The US is one of the only global military superpowers and Greenland has fewer than 60,000 people, there are enough American soldiers to have one for every Greenlander and still have plenty left over for all the other pies they've got their fingers in around the world.

So yes, the US has the military strength to go over and take it.

Even if the US has the military capability to occupy Greenland, it would destroy the NATO alliance they perch atop (Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Even if the US has the military capability to occupy Greenland, it would destroy the NATO alliance they perch atop (Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Advert

Of course, officially the US president has to get the approval of congress to take military action, but as NPR points out, the last time the US congress formally declared war was in 1942 during the Second World War when the US declared war on Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania for siding with the Nazis.

Presidents have carried out military action without the approval of congress before, and sometimes have done it without prior notice.

Another issue is that Greenland's defence is currently the responsibility of Denmark, a founding member of NATO which could then attempt to call in the rest of the alliance in response to American aggression.

Since NATO was set up as an American-led alliance, invading Greenland runs the risk of the US ending up at war with all of its allies or rendering the entire alliance a sham by destroying the collective defence provision.

So, it's really best for everyone if he never actually tries it.

Featured Image Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Topics: Donald Trump, Greenland, US News, World News

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

X

@MrJoeHarker

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
5 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Met Police advice on 'sextortion' after boy, 14, dies after thinking he was flirting with woman online

    The teenager ended his life after being blackmailed over intimate images he'd sent online

    News
  • an hour ago

    Doctors make shocking discovery after toddler hospitalised with stomach pains

    Madeline Dunne's son was rushed to the hospital for a near-fatal reason

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Murder suspect Bryan Kohberger pleads guilty to killing four Idaho students to avoid death penalty

    The four University of Idaho students were killed in November 2022

    News

    breaking

  • 5 hours ago

    Man spends 17 hours in world's biggest Wetherspoons and is left stunned by the final bill

    What a way to spend a day

    News
  • Why Donald Trump wants to acquire Greenland following major military threat to country
  • Russia sends worrying threat to US after Trump ‘approves plan’ for Iran attack as tensions rise
  • Donald Trump sends scathing message to Vladimir Putin following phone call between them
  • Donald Trump speaks out after Iran attacks on US airbases