Denmark Summons U.S. Envoy Over Covert Greenland Operation
- - Denmark Summons U.S. Envoy Over Covert Greenland Operation
Richard HallAugust 27, 2025 at 6:15 PM
A Trump aircraft arrives in Nuuk, Greenland, on Jan. 7, 2025. Credit - Emil Stach—Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty Images)
Denmark’s foreign minister has summoned the top U.S. diplomat in Copenhagen after the country’s national broadcaster reported that three people linked to President Donald Trump had been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Citing government and security sources, the broadcaster, DR, said three Americans close to the president had been compiling names of Greenlandic citizens who supported Trump’s plans to take over the island, and who might be willing to join a secessionist movement.
The report said the sources believed the goal of the operation was to “penetrate Greenlandic society in order to weaken relations with Denmark from within and make the Greenlanders submit to the United States.”
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen confirmed in a statement to TIME that he had summoned Mark Stroh, the U.S. charge d'affaires in Copenhagen, adding that “any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the Kingdom [of Denmark] will of course be unacceptable.”
Read more: History Explains Trump’s Interest in Greenland—And Why Buying It Won’t Be So Easy
“We are aware that foreign actors continue to show an interest in Greenland and its position in the Kingdom of Denmark. It is therefore not surprising if we experience outside attempts to influence the future of the Kingdom in the time ahead,” he said.
A State Department spokesperson said in a statement that Stroh’s meeting with the Danish foreign minister was “productive” and the two “reaffirmed the strong ties among the Government of Greenland, the United States, and Denmark.” In response to questions about whether the U.S. is encouraging a pro-secessionist movement in Greenland, the official said, “We have no comment to provide on the actions of private U.S. citizens in Greenland,” and “the United States respects the right of the people of Greenland to determine their own future.”
Danish officials have been concerned for months about public efforts by Trump allies to gin up support for Greenland splitting off from Denmark. When The Wall Street Journal reported in May that Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, had ordered U.S. spies to step up intelligence gathering about Greenland’s independence movement, Danish officials were troubled that the Trump administration didn’t issue a public denial. The Trump administration’s public silence on Wednesday regarding the latest allegations further alarmed Danish officials, according to a person familiar with their response.
Trump spent his first few months back in office pushing for the United States to take control of Greenland, and refusing to rule out using military force to acquire it.
“We need Greenland for national security and even international security,” Trump said during a joint session of Congress, pointing to the influence of other global powers in the Arctic, specifically Russia and China. “And I think we’re going to get it one way or the other.”
In its report, DR did not publish the names of the three Americans who were alleged to have been carrying out the operation, but described one of them as having been “seen in public with the U.S. president many times” and “recently been appointed to a role that could give him influence over U.S. security policy.”
The other two have “regularly traveled back and forth between Greenland and the United States in recent years,” and have previously worked under Trump.
The report added that all three men's activities were closely monitored by the Danish government.
The U.S. currently has no ambassador in Denmark. A charge d'affaires is a diplomat who serves as chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador.
Greenland—the world's largest island that is not a continent—is sparsely populated by just over 56,000 people, but heavy in natural resources, including rare earth minerals, uranium, and iron. In fact, Greenland has 25 of the 34 minerals categorized as “critical raw materials” by the European Commission.
These minerals include lithium and titanium, which are critical in the kind of manufacturing operations that Trump is attempting to boost in the United States —including phones and computer chips.
Trump sent diplomats from his Administration to Greenland earlier this year as part of his push to acquire Greenland, including his son in January, and in March, Second Lady Usha Vance, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright to Greenland.
Contact us at [email protected].
Source: “AOL AOL General News”
