President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to “do something” about Greenland if Denmark doesn’t comply with his demands.
Trump issued the threat while taking questions during a White House press briefing. The specific question posed to him was whether he was interested in sending Greenlanders a payment to convince them to voluntarily become a part of the United States.
“I’m not talking about money for Greenland yet,” the president replied. “I might talk about that but right now we are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not.”
The reason why, he insisted, is “because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we are not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor, okay?”
.@POTUS: “We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland — and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor. I would like to make a deal the easy way.” pic.twitter.com/O3wH89icOp
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 9, 2026
Trump continued by stressing that he’d like to make some sort of deal.
“I would like to make a deal the easy way, but if we don’t do it the easy way we will do it the hard way,” he said. “And by the way, I’m a fan of Denmark. I have to tell you. They have been very nice to me.”
“I’m a big fan. But, you know, the fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago doesn’t mean that they own the land. Sure, we had a lot of boats go there also,” he added.
The president concluded his remarks by again stressing that Greenland is needed for national security reasons.
“We need that because if you take a look outside of Greenland right now, there are Russian destroyers, Chinese destroyers and bigger,” he noted. “There are Russian submarines all over the place.”
“We are not going to have Russia or China occupying Greenland. That is what they are going to do if we don’t. So we will be doing something with Greenland either the nice way or the more difficult way,” he added.
Greenland officials later responded to the president’s words by turning down his offer.
Statement from the Premier of Greenland
January 9, 2026
8:30pm local time.We Stand Together as a People
As leaders of Greenland’s political parties, we once again wish to underline our firm position that the United States’ disregard for our country must come to an end.…
— Orla Joelsen (@OJoelsen) January 9, 2026
“As leaders of Greenland’s political parties, we once again wish to underline our firm position that the United States’ disregard for our country must come to an end,” Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a lengthy statement late Friday.
“We do not wish to be Americans. We do not wish to be Danes. We wish to be Greenlanders. Greenland is a country governed in accordance with the Self-Government Act and international law. … The future of Greenland must be decided by the Greenlandic people,” he added.
According to Aaja Chemnitz, one of two Greenlandic lawmakers in the Danish parliament, the people of Greenland share Nielsen’s attitude
“You can’t just buy another country, a people, the soul of Greenland,” she said in an interview cited by NBC News. “Everybody in Greenland is discussing it, and many people are worried and concerned.”
Greenlanders reject Trump buying Greenland.
“Offer any number, and we will say no” pic.twitter.com/P9cm6v1cax
— NXT EU (@NXT4EU) January 10, 2026
Vice President J.D. Vance for his part stressed in remarks to reporters on Thursday that Greenland is important for U.S. national security.
“Greenland is really important, not just to America’s missile defense, but to the world’s missile defense,” he said. “We know that there are hostile adversaries that have shown a lot of interest in that particular territory, that particular slice of the world.”
JD Vance on Greenland: “If Europe won’t take its security seriously, the U.S. will. Greenland is crucial for America’s — and the world’s — missile defense. Hostile powers are watching.” pic.twitter.com/X6QD52buPL
— (@Primewave96) January 8, 2026
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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