European Nations Deploy Troops to Greenland as Trump Annexation Threats Escalate NATO Crisis
European NATO allies, including Germany, Sweden, and France, are deploying military personnel to Greenland for joint exercises with Denmark, in a direct show of solidarity as US President Donald Trump ramps up threats to forcibly annex the strategic Arctic island. This unprecedented move signals a severe crisis within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, with members preparing to defend an ally from its own leading power.
The bedrock principle of NATO—that an attack on one is an attack on all—is facing its most surreal and severe test. The attacker in question isn’t a historical adversary, but the alliance’s own largest member: the United States. Following a series of escalating public threats from President Donald Trump to seize control of Greenland, European capitals are moving from statements to symbolic action. According to CNN, multiple nations are now sending troops to the Danish territory, transforming a decades-old defensive pact into a potential standoff between allies.
“We are expanding our military presence in close cooperation with NATO allies,” Denmark announced this week, responsible for Greenland’s defense. The message was clear: an attack on Greenland would mean the end of NATO. The response from Europe was swift.
Germany confirmed it is sending a 13-person reconnaissance team. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced his country deployed troops at Denmark’s request for the upcoming Operation Arctic Endurance. France, Norway, the Netherlands, and Finland have all confirmed sending personnel, ranging from liaison officers to naval staff.
While joint Arctic exercises are not new, the timing and context of these deployments are explosive. They represent a muscular political signal to Washington. French President Emmanuel Macron stated a French military team was “already on the ground” and would be reinforced with air, sea, and land components. This coordinated European movement underscores a fundamental alarm: the alliance’s guarantor is now the source of the threat.
The crisis was ignited by President Trump’s renewed and explicit ambition for Greenland, which holds vast mineral resources and strategic Arctic positioning. “I’m going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not,” he told a gathering of oil executives last Friday. He followed on his Truth Social platform that “anything less” than U.S. control is “unacceptable,” arguing NATO would be “far more formidable” with Greenland under the American flag. These statements have upended diplomatic norms and forced European leaders into a defensive posture they never anticipated.
The situation grew tenser as Danish and Greenlandic officials met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday. The talks, reported by CNN, were described as “frank but also constructive” by Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, but a “fundamental disagreement” remains. The parties agreed to form a high-level working group, a diplomatic mechanism that does little to mask the profound rift.
Beyond troop deployments, other nations are deepening their formal ties to Greenland to reinforce its sovereignty. Canada and France have announced plans to open consulates in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, in the coming weeks. Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand reiterated her country’s “steadfast support” for Danish and Greenlandic sovereignty, a message she will deliver in person soon.
For now, Danish officials are attempting to downplay the immediate military risk. Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen called a potential U.S. attack “completely hypothetical” and “unlikely.” Yet, the very need to make such a statement reveals the staggering reality of the moment. The European troop movements are less about preparing for an imminent invasion and more about drawing a bright red line for Washington, demonstrating that the cost of such an action would be the immediate and irrevocable destruction of the transatlantic alliance itself.