Former national security adviser Robert O’Brien said in a Sunday interview that Denmark should let the U.S. “buy” Greenland if it cannot defend the self-governing country, noting the territory will become increasingly important in the coming years.
In an interview on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” O’Brien described Greenland as a “highway from the Arctic all the way to North America” and noted that the autonomous country, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, will become increasingly important as the climate warms in the coming years.
“It's strategically very important to the Arctic, which is going to be the critical battleground of the future because, as the climate gets warmer, the Arctic is going to be a pathway that maybe even cuts down on the usage of the Panama Canal,” O’Brien said.
Talk of buying Greenland can also be seen as a national security play. The Arctic is a key region as the U.S. looks to counter Russia and China, and it’s becoming more contested as melting ice opens up new shipping routes.
O’Brien quoted President-elect Trump as saying that the U.S. won’t defend Greenland free of charge.
“The Russians and Chinese are all over the Arctic,” O’Brien said. “The Kingdom of Denmark owns Greenland, and they have got an obligation to defend Greenland. And so President Trump said, ‘If you don't defend Greenland, we will buy it and we will defend it. But we're not going to defend it for free and let you — and not develop Greenland and not extract the minerals and oil and resources of Greenland.’”
“Denmark is now on the front lines of the war against Russia and China. They're like the Baltic states. They're like Poland because of their vast territory in Greenland. And so they have got to defend Greenland,” O’Brien added. “And if they can't defend it, we're going to have to, and we're not going to do it for free.”
Alternatively, O’Brien said, if Denmark does not want to pay the U.S. for Greenland’s defense, the U.S. can take the territory off its hands.
“They can let us buy Greenland from [Denmark], and Greenland can become part of Alaska. I mean, the native people in Greenland are very closely related to the people of Alaska, and we will make it a part of Alaska,” O’Brien said.
In a Truth Social post announcing his pick for ambassador to Denmark last week, Trump declared that U.S. ownership of the island territory “is an absolute necessity.”
Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Eged pushed back on Trump’s comments, saying Greenland “will never be for sale,” and Denmark announced a new package to boost security of the Arctic Island.
