Do Russia and China pose a national security threat to the US in Greenland?

US President Donald Trump sees Greenland arsenic a United States nationalist information precedence to deter Washington’s “adversaries successful the Arctic region”, according to a White House statement released connected Tuesday.

The connection came days aft Trump told reporters that the US needs Greenland from a nationalist information position due to the fact that it is “covered with Russian and Chinese ships”.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 4US backs information guarantees for Ukraine, arsenic France and UK pledge troops
• list 2 of 4Rodriguez says ‘no overseas agent’ moving Venezuela, US relation inactive unclear
• list 3 of 4US says subject ‘always an option’ successful Greenland arsenic Europe rejects threats
• list 4 of 4Greenland takeover could “upend US overseas policy”

Here’s what you request to cognize astir what Trump said, whether Russia and China are contiguous successful Greenland, and whether they bash airs a menace to American security.

What has Trump precocious said astir Greenland?

“Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships each implicit the place. We request Greenland from the standpoint of nationalist security,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One connected January 4.

The White House connection connected Tuesday fleshed retired further details connected however the US would spell astir its acquisition of Greenland.

“The president and his squad are discussing a scope of options to prosecute this important overseas argumentation goal, and of course, utilizing the US subject is ever an enactment astatine the commander-in-chief’s disposal,” the White House connection says.

Over the people of his 2nd term, Trump has talked astir wanting Greenland for nationalist information reasons aggregate times.

“We request Greenland for planetary information and security. We request it. We person to person it,” helium said successful March.

Since 1979, Greenland has been a self-governing territory of Denmark, and since 2009, it has had the close to state independency done a referendum.

Trump has repeatedly expressed a tendency to instrumentality power of the island, which hosts a US subject base. He archetypal voiced this tendency successful 2019, during his archetypal word arsenic US president.

As a response, leaders from Greenland and Denmark person repeatedly said that Greenland is not for sale. They person made it wide that they are particularly not funny successful becoming portion of the US.

On January 4, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, “It makes perfectly nary consciousness to speech astir the US needing to instrumentality implicit Greenland.”

“The US has nary close to annex immoderate of the 3 countries successful the Danish kingdom,” she said, alluding to the Faroe Islands, which, similar Greenland, are besides a Danish territory.

“I would truthful powerfully impulse the US to halt the threats against a historically adjacent state and against different state and different radical who person precise intelligibly said that they are not for sale,” Frederiksen said.

US peculiar forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during an cognition successful the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, connected January 3.

Hours later, Katie Miller, the woman of adjacent Trump adjutant and US Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, posted a photograph connected X showing the US emblem imposed connected the representation of Greenland.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen deed backmost successful an X post, writing, “Relations betwixt nations and peoples are built connected communal respect and planetary instrumentality – not connected symbolic gestures that disregard our presumption and our rights.”

Why does Trump privation Greenland truthful badly?

The determination and earthy resources of the Arctic land marque it strategically important for Washington.

Greenland is geographically portion of North America, located betwixt the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean. It is location to immoderate 56,000 residents, mostly Indigenous Inuit people.

It is the world’s largest island. Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, is person to New York City  – immoderate 2,900km (1,800 miles) distant – than the Danish superior Copenhagen, which is located 3,500km (2,174 miles) to the east.

Greenland, a NATO territory done Denmark, is an EU-associated overseas state and territory whose residents stay European Union citizens, having joined the European Community with Denmark successful 1973 but having withdrawn successful 1985.

“It’s truly tricky if the United States decides to usage subject powerfulness to instrumentality implicit Greenland. Denmark is simply a subordinate of NATO; the United States is simply a subordinate arsenic well. It truly calls into question what the intent of the subject confederation is, if that happens,” Melinda Haring, a elder chap astatine the Atlantic Council Eurasia Center, told Al Jazeera.

Greenland offers the shortest way from North America to Europe. This gives the US a strategical precocious manus for its subject and its ballistic rocket early-warning system.

The US has expressed involvement successful expanding its subject beingness successful Greenland by placing radars successful the waters connecting Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom. These waters are a gateway for Russian and Chinese vessels, which Washington aims to track.

The land is besides incredibly affluent successful minerals, including uncommon world minerals utilized successful the high-tech manufacture and successful the manufacture of batteries.

According to a 2023 survey, 25 of 34 minerals deemed “critical earthy materials” by the European Commission were recovered successful Greenland.

Greenland does not transportation retired the extraction of lipid and gas, and its mining assemblage is opposed by its Indigenous population. The island’s system is mostly reliant connected its sportfishing industry.

Are Chinese and Russian ships swarming Greenland?

However, portion Trump has spoken of Russian and Chinese ships astir Greenland, currently, facts don’t carnivore that out.

Vessel tracking information from maritime information and quality websites specified arsenic MarineTraffic bash not amusement the beingness of Chinese oregon Russian ships adjacent Greenland.

Are Russia and China a menace to Greenland?

The ships’ determination aside, Trump’s rhetoric comes amid a heightened scramble for the Arctic.

Amid planetary warming, the immense untapped resources of the Arctic are becoming much accessible. Countries similar the US, Canada, China and Russia are present eyeing these resources.

“Russia has ne'er threatened anyone successful the Arctic, but we volition intimately travel the developments and equine an due effect by expanding our subject capableness and modernising subject infrastructure,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said during an code successful March 2025 astatine the International Arctic Forum successful the Russian metropolis of Murmansk, the largest metropolis wrong the Arctic Circle.

During this address, Putin said that helium believed Trump was superior astir taking Greenland and that the US volition proceed with efforts to get it.

In December 2024, Canada released a argumentation document detailing plans to ramp up its subject and diplomatic beingness successful the Arctic. Russia is also constructing subject installations and powerfulness plants successful the region.

Meanwhile, Russia and China person been working together to make Arctic shipping routes arsenic Moscow seeks to present much lipid and state to China amid Western sanctions while Beijing seeks an alternate shipping route to trim its dependence connected the Strait of Malacca.

The Northern Sea Route (NSR), a maritime way successful the Arctic Ocean, is becoming easier to navigate owed to melting ice. The NSR tin chopped shipping trips importantly short. Russia is hoping to ramp up commerce done the NSR to commercialized much with Asia than Europe owed to Western sanctions. Last year, the fig of lipid shipments from Russia to China via the NSR roseate by a quarter.

China is besides probing the region, and has sent 10 technological expeditions to the Arctic and built probe vessels to survey the icy waters northbound of Russia.