Concerns are mounting that a third global conflict could erupt if the United States proceeds with plans to invade Greenland, following reports that Donald Trump has instructed the military to prepare an invasion strategy.
Since his first term in office, Trump has shown interest in acquiring Greenland, and discussions were reignited last year after he began his second term as President.
The 79-year-old’s interest in Greenland, which is a self-governing part of Denmark, is driven by national security concerns, emphasizing the urgency of needing the territory ‘right now’.
The geographic position of the island, situated between North America and the Arctic, makes it an ideal location for setting up early warning systems in the event of missile threats.
However, some have raised doubts about this justification, including Jeremy Shapiro, a former official at the State Department during Barack Obama’s presidency. He is currently the research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.
Shapiro told POLITICO: “The President’s arguments about Greenland are self-evidently bullsh*t from top to bottom.”
Despite facing opposition from various NATO member countries, Trump is reportedly urging military generals to devise a strategy to seize Greenland.
As for the potential approach the military might take, it is speculated that they would ‘focus on access, control, and logistics, and likely would not require an enormous US footprint, given the territory’s sparse population’, according to Harrison Kass, a senior defense and national security writer at The National Interest.
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Greenland’s defense would heavily depend on NATO assistance, as both the island and Denmark lack sufficient resources to confront the U.S. independently.
If the U.S. were to proceed with an invasion, it could potentially ‘destroy’ its relationship with NATO, Kass notes, especially after Trump demanded that NATO countries increase their defense spending to five percent of their GDP by 2035.
Republican Representative Michael McCaul has expressed concerns echoing this sentiment.
“For [Trump] to militarily invade would turn Article 5 of NATO on its very head and, in essence, press a war with NATO itself,” McCaul stated, according to ABC News. “It would end up abolishing NATO as we know it.”
He further commented: “If we want to put more military in there, we can; we don’t have to invade it. If he wants to buy it, that’s fine. But I don’t see a willing seller right now.”
Spoke with @POTUS regarding the security situation in Greenland and the Arctic. We will continue working on this, and I look forward to seeing him in Davos later this week.
— Mark Rutte (@SecGenNATO) January 18, 2026
Amid escalating tensions, NATO Secretary General Matt Rutte is reportedly ‘working’ with Trump to find a diplomatic solution.
He tweeted on January 18: “Spoke with @POTUS regarding the security situation in Greenland and the Arctic. We will continue working on this, and I look forward to seeing him in Davos later this week.”