A top military adviser to Donald Trump has claimed the president's recent threats to seize Greenland are a calculated act of intimidation, not a blueprint for genuine military action.
‘It Is Intimidation’, Says Trump’s Informal Adviser
Retired US Army General Jack Keane, who speaks with the president on defence matters several times a week, provided the insight during an interview. He stated that the White House's suggestion of ‘utilising the US military’ to acquire the vast, mineral-rich island was a tactic designed to pressure the Danish government.
“It's the way the president and the men and women around him go about doing business,” Keane said on The Times’s The General and the Journalist podcast. “It is intimidation - threats to eventually make a deal for some kind of security arrangement between the United States and Greenland. He wants to make a deal.”
Keane, a former vice-chief of staff who turned down two offers to be Trump’s defence secretary, emphasised he believes Trump has “never seriously thought about taking physical control of Greenland by military means.”
Diplomatic Missions and Legal Warnings
The comments come as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio prepares to visit Denmark to discuss options, including a potential purchase of the 836,330-square-mile territory. The island lies roughly 2,000 miles from the American coast and is home to about 57,000 people.
However, Keane issued a stark warning about the legality of any invasion, calling it “unprecedented for an American president” and “illegal, based on the limitations that are imposed on our executive.” This view was echoed by senior Republican senator Mitch McConnell, who criticised the “unseemly” and “counterproductive” bullying tactics.
Despite these warnings, other Trump administration figures have taken a harder line. Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller told CNN the world is “governed by strength... by force... by power,” and suggested little military opposition would be expected over Greenland.
NATO Alliance Under Threat
The escalating rhetoric has sent shockwaves through the NATO alliance. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen declared that any US attack on a NATO member would mean the end of “everything,” including the post-Second World War security framework.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer affirmed that “Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark must decide the future of Greenland, and only Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark.” Multiple NATO leaders have cautioned that hostile action would effectively destroy the alliance.
The United States already maintains a strategic presence on the island through the Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Base) on the northwest coast, where some 200 personnel are stationed.
