The Danish Ministry of Defense has announced an immediate increase in its military presence in Greenland, an autonomous territory under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark, in direct response to Donald Trump’s threats to take over the island “by hook or by crook.”
Copenhagen considers “totally unacceptable” any formula that questions the territorial integrity and right of self-determination of the Greenlandic people, and has activated, together with its European partners, a high-profile military exercise to deter the United States.
The operation, dubbed “Operation Arctic Resistance”, takes place in extreme conditions and combines ground, naval and air maneuvers with the reinforcement of strategic bases and supply routes in the Arctic. The deployment comes in a context of growing competition for control of sea routes, critical minerals and military positions in the far north, in which Russia and China also appear as background actors in the calculations of Washington and Brussels.
Trump’s threats about Greenland
Donald Trump has raised the tension by insisting that the United States “needs Greenland for its national security” and by even putting a figure on the territory, which he would have estimated at around 700 billion. The US president maintains that with Greenland “in the hands” of the United States “NATO will be much more effective”, while calling any scenario in which the island does not remain under Washington’s control as “unacceptable”.
In his public messages, Trump has gone so far as to frame the annexation of Greenland as a matter of now or never, warning that if the United States does not take the step, “Russia is going to come in and China is going to come in” and Denmark “can’t do anything about it.” These statements have been interpreted in Europe as direct pressure on an allied territory and have accelerated military and diplomatic coordination around Copenhagen.
The role of Denmark: owner of the territory and framework of the operation
Denmark, responsible for the defense of Greenland through the Arctic Command, has been the first to move with the reinforcement of its own deployment on the island. The Danish Government has sent an advance command towards Nuuk, has activated new contingents and has launched a plan to increase the presence of aircraft, ships and ground units in and around the territory.
The Arctic Command has stressed that it will maintain close dialogue with the Greenlandic authorities and will continuously inform the population about military activities on the island, in an attempt to prevent the allied reinforcement from being perceived as an external imposition. At the same time, Copenhagen and Washington have agreed to create a “high-level working group” that will meet in the coming weeks to try to channel American concerns without giving up the sovereignty of the territory.
Sweden, Germany and the European hard core in Greenland
Within the framework of the European response, the most visible movements have come from Sweden and Germany, which have already confirmed the sending of soldiers to Greenland as an advance for an eventual broader deployment. The Danish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Troels Lund Poulsen, has detailed that these contingents are part of the “Operation Arctic Resistance” exercise, designed to “reinforce the military presence in Greenland” and improve the allied reaction capacity.
The Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, has announced that “officers of the Swedish Armed Forces arrive in Greenland today” and has specified that “they are part of a group of several allied countries” that “will prepare the next steps within the framework of the Danish exercise ‘Operation Arctic Resistance’.”
Sweden frames its participation in a multilateral effort to “ensure the security and stability of the region” and “reinforce the Alliance’s footprint in the Arctic, for the benefit of both European and transatlantic security.”
Military objectives of “Operation Arctic Resistance”
The Danish Ministry of Defense has explained that the exercises planned within “Operation Arctic Resistance” focus on several axes: protecting critical infrastructure, supporting local authorities, receiving allied troops, deploying combat aircraft and developing naval operations in the Arctic environment. It involves training the participating forces in the extreme conditions of the region and ensuring that they can operate sustainably in a key territory for NATO’s maritime routes and communications.
In parallel, the allied command in Europe (SHAPE) is studying formulas to consolidate a more stable presence in the medium term, from permanent naval and air patrols to troop rotations, reinforced exchange of intelligence and new agreements on the use of facilities on the island itself. The United Kingdom, Germany and France are considering sending additional ships, aircraft and ground units, which would make Greenland one of the epicenters of the Allied strategy in the far north of the Atlantic.
A political message to Washington and the world
Beyond the military dimension, “Operation Arctic Resistance” functions as a direct political response to Trump’s narrative about a supposed European weakness in the defense of Greenland. By coordinating the deployment of several countries and presenting it as an operation under Danish leadership, the EU and its partners want to make clear that the future of the island will be decided with Copenhagen and Nuuk, not from the White House.
The reinforcement in Greenland also sends a message to Moscow and Beijing, in the midst of a struggle for influence in the Arctic, by underlining that the region will continue to be a priority space for NATO and its European allies. On this board, Trump uses the argument of competition with Russia and China to justify his ambition on the island, while European partners try to contain these aspirations without completely breaking bridges with Washington.
