Trump's Greenland ambitions scaled back
The gist
Trump signed a Greenland security deal on Sep 22, expanding US bases but ceding no land.
The pact ends a standoff that had strained NATO, leaving Greenland still Danish.
How it unfolded
- Jan 2025Dans and American Daybreak helped arrange a visit by Donald Trump Jr. and late conservative activist Charlie Kirk to Greenland; a plan to bring Usha Vance to a dog sled race was scaled back after protests.
- Jan 2026Trump's refusal to rule out military or economic force to acquire Greenland triggered a diplomatic crisis within NATO and forced Denmark and the island's government into intensive negotiations. Trump said he needed to take over all of Greenland and make it American territory.
- May 21, 2026US Ambassador to Denmark Kenneth A. Howery appeared with Vivian Motzfeldt, a member of the Greenlandic Parliament, at the opening of a new US consulate in Nuuk.