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President Donald Trump is “discussing a range of options” to acquire Greenland and hasn't ruled out the use of military in doing so, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed in a statement to CNN on Tuesday (January 6).
“President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,” Leavitt said. “The President and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal.”
Leavitt's statement followed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who told lawmakers that the Trump administration was considering buying Greenland while downplaying concerns about potential military intervention this week, two sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to CNN. Trump has long had aspirations related to acquiring Greenland, specifically early in his second administration, and officials reportedly continued to discuss the situation behind the scenes, despite it not being mentioned as frequent publicly in recent months. The State Department reportedly provided analysis of untapped resources in Greenland at the request of Rubio's team, which included rare earths, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to CNN.
Trump has since revamped interest in expansionist foreign policy in the days following the United States' capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday (January 4), one day after Maduro was captured.