Why Trump Is Obsessed With Taking Over Greenland: QuickTake

Jan. 19, 2026, 12:29 PM UTC

US President Donald Trump has long said he wants to take control of Greenland, a self-ruling territory of Denmark. He’s now demanding that the Danish government agree to a US takeover of the island and threatening European allies with a new round of punishing trade tariffs if they push back.

The seizure of Venezuela’s president by US special forces on Jan. 3 already showed Trump’s readiness to intervene directly in another nation’s affairs. His increasingly threatening rhetoric over Greenland has caused alarm in the territory’s capital Nuuk.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said the US has no right ...

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