President Trump is moving forward with a plan to acquire Greenland — one way or another.

While the initiative has drawn resistance from establishment figures in Washington and abroad — even among Greelanders themselves — the administration maintains that securing the territory is essential to checking the growing influence of Russia and China in the Arctic region.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the administration’s commitment to the strategy on Tuesday.

“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,” Ms. Leavitt said. She further noted that Mr. Trump’s team is “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.”

But behind the scenes there are diplomatic moves underway as well, this one presented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He told Capitol Hill lawmakers in a closed meeting on Monday that the president plans to buy Greenland rather than invade it, but he didn’t offer details on how Mr. Trump would do so. 

NATO-member Denmark currently rules Greenland, a sparsely populated autonomous territory that stretches 830,000 square miles, and has made it quite clear that the island rich in natural resources and offshore oil deposits is not for sale.

Greenland’s citizens, currently about 57,000 people, voted in March 2025 to elect the center-right opposition party, which vowed during the campaign to maintain independence and reject Mr. Trump’s pledge to take over the semi-autonomous territory.

America has tried to acquire Greenland before. After buying Alaska from the Russians in 1867, Secretary of State William H. Seward floated the idea of buying both Greenland and Iceland from Denmark. The sale never happened.

The new push to acquire the world’s largest island is driven by escalating geopolitical tensions in the far north. As detailed in Kenneth R. Rosen’s recent book, “Polar War,” the region is rapidly militarizing. Russia is currently “leading the charge” with a massive fleet of icebreakers and military bases. As one Norwegian naval commander observed, “Putin is saying, ‘I’m the boss in the Arctic,’ and he is.”

Simultaneously, China is expanding its reach, building its own icebreakers and “teaming up” with Russia to challenge Western dominance. Mr. Trump has long identified this vulnerability, arguing that America needs the Arctic island to counter these activities.

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller emphasized the logic of the move during a CNN interview, saying that the U.S. “should have Greenland as part of the United States.” Mr. Miller dismissed the idea of military pushback, noting, “Nobody’s going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland.”

Mr. Trump’s proposal faces skepticism outside the administration, including from some Republican lawmakers.

“It’s not going to happen,” said Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. Similarly, Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska expressed hesitation over the sabre-rattling involving a NATO partner. “It’s appalling,” Mr. Bacon said. “These are our allies.”

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers of Alabama took a more measured view, suggesting the president might be maneuvering his way into some sort of deal. “My guess is this is him priming the pump to make some offer toward the Greenlanders to connect with us in a stronger way, but I don’t know,” Mr. Rogers said.

Democrats in Congress have reacted with intense outrage. Congressman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said, “On one level, it’s embarrassing. On another level, it’s just scary. These guys are deranged. This is more than a difference over policy. These guys are just out of their minds.”

Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut went as far as to suggest a conflict within the NATO alliance. “That’s what Article 5 says. Article 5 did not anticipate that the invading country would be a member of NATO,” Mr. Murphy said. “We’re laughing, but this is not actually something to laugh about now because I think he’s increasingly serious.”

The question of whether America — which already has a military base on Greenland — actually needs to acquire the island to achieve its goals has also surfaced. Back in 1951, the United States and Denmark signed an agreement that gives America wide military access in Greenland. The agreement allows the United States to “construct, install, maintain, and operate” military bases across Greenland, “house personnel” and “control landings, takeoffs, anchorages, moorings, movements, and operation of ships, aircraft, and waterborne craft.”

The renewed focus on Greenland follows a successful American military operation in Venezuela, where forces captured President Nicolás Maduro. Following that mission, Mr. Trump declared that “we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”

The administration appears ready to apply similar resolve to the Arctic. While Danish leaders issued a statement saying, “Greenland belongs to its people,” Mr. Trump has remained consistent in his objective for nearly a decade.

“I think we’re going to get it,” Mr. Trump said last year. “One way or another, we’re going to get it.”