Trump revives Greenland ambitions at NATO summit, rattling European allies

US President Donald Trump used the NATO summit to publicly revive his ambitions to annex Greenland, putting European allies on edge once again.

Trump suggested that reducing US troop levels in Europe could be linked to Greenland, drawing an immediate rebuke from Denmark and Greenland, which insisted the island "is not for sale."

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday after the NATO summit concluded, Trump said he had not yet made a final decision on further withdrawing US troops from Europe. "A lot depends on Greenland," he said, according to Germany's DPA news agency and other outlets.

"A lot depends on whether we can make a very good deal with respect to Greenland," Trump added. "Maybe that will happen."

The Trump administration has been pressing European allies to reduce their dependence on the United States for continental defense and shoulder a greater share of the burden. It recently announced it plans to decide on troop reductions in Europe after a six-month review.

The United States currently stations about 80,000 troops across Europe, including in Germany, Poland, Italy, Romania and the Baltic states.

Trump had already revived his Greenland ambitions earlier in the week. Speaking to reporters shortly after arriving in Ankara on Tuesday, he called the issue "a reason that has hurt" the US-NATO relationship and said Greenland "should be controlled by the United States, not Denmark" — his first such public statement on the matter in months.

On Wednesday, the final day of the summit, Trump told reporters that Greenland "is very important to the United States but not important to Denmark," adding that he was "not satisfied with what NATO has done" on the Greenland issue — a signal that his interest had not cooled.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen both pushed back immediately, reiterating that "Greenland is not for sale" and calling on the United States to respect the sovereignty of its allies.

At the formal sessions attended by leaders of all 32 NATO member states, Trump made no mention of Greenland and instead offered supportive remarks about transatlantic unity, allowing the summit to wrap up without the open ruptures many had feared.

Even so, Euronews noted that Europe cannot hide its anxiety that the Greenland dispute — which many had assumed was fading — may be reigniting. Trump shocked Denmark and European allies alike in January when he declared Greenland essential to US security and signaled a willingness to use military force to bring it under American control.

Faced with fierce European pushback that rapidly escalated transatlantic tensions, Trump stepped back and said he would pursue the matter through diplomacy. Three-way negotiations among the United States, Denmark and Greenland have been under way since then.

International attention shifted away from the Greenland issue as a Middle East war that broke out in February and the war in Ukraine dominated the global agenda, and the matter quickly faded from official discussions. Trump's latest remarks, however, made clear that the underlying conflict had never been fully extinguished.

Denmark and Greenland have been engaged in trilateral talks with the United States since January, aimed at finding a resolution, based on a bilateral defense agreement the two sides signed in 1951. No concrete outcome has yet emerged.

The New York Times reported in May that the United States is seeking to secure a permanent military presence in Greenland to block Russian and Chinese influence, as well as veto rights over new investments there. Those demands are widely seen as a direct challenge to the sovereignty of both Denmark and Greenland.

Denmark and Greenland are hoping diplomatic negotiations will bear fruit, but remain concerned that the Trump administration may still pursue annexation through means other than military force, Euronews reported. Both governments have been conveying to other European countries that the situation should not be taken lightly.