Trump Considering ‘Range of Options’ for ‘Acquiring’ Greenland, Including Using the U.S. Military, White House Says

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated that the use of the U.S. military is “always an option” as President Donald Trump continues to pursue acquiring Greenland.

In the wake of a strike in Venezuela in which U.S. forces captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and brought them to the United States, Trump is now reportedly considering a “range of options” to achieve what Reuters described as an “important foreign policy goal” of acquiring Greenland.

“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 in a statement. “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 comments came a day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that Trump intends to purchase Greenland rather than invade the self-governing island within the Kingdom of Denmark, according to CNN and The New York Times. Denmark and the United States are allies as members of NATO.

Other possibilities under consideration reportedly include forming a compact of free association or acquiring the territory from Denmark, CBS News reported.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Jan. 4, while discussing the capture of Maduro and his wife, that the U.S. could become similarly involved in Colombia, Cuba and Greenland, as well as Iran and Mexico.

The president, who has long expressed interest in annexing Greenland, argued that the island’s strategic value has grown, saying it is “covered with Russian and Chinese ships” and asserting that the U.S. needs Greenland “from the standpoint of national security.” He also said Denmark would not be able to address those security concerns.

According to CBS News, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told local media on Monday that the NATO alliance would effectively end if the U.S. military moved to seize control of Greenland.

“If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops. That is, including our NATO, and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War,” he said, per CBS News.

A letter published by the Denmark Prime Minister’s Office on X, signed by Denmark’s leaders and leaders of European NATO states and dated Tuesday, Jan. 6, also pushed back against Trump’s interest in Greenland.

“Greenland belongs to its people,” the letter said. “It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”