Five helicopters - to acquire Greenland, Trump needs to take just four simple steps 0 17

President Donald Trump wants the U.S. to own Greenland, but the problem is that the island already belongs to Denmark, and most Greenlanders do not want to become part of America. This is reported by Politico, which spoke with nine EU officials, defense experts, and diplomats to find out how the U.S. could seize Greenland.

"It could be five helicopters... he won't need many troops. They [the Greenlanders] won't be able to do anything," noted a Danish politician anonymously.

Step 1: An influence campaign to bolster the independence movement in Greenland Almost immediately after taking office, the Trump administration began to declare Greenland's independence, which would allow it to make agreements with the U.S., whereas now it needs Copenhagen's consent.

"To gain independence, Greenlanders must vote in a referendum, and then negotiate an agreement that must be approved by both Nuuk and Copenhagen. In a 2025 poll, 56% of Greenlanders said they would vote for independence, while 28% were against it," the article reminded.

According to Danish media, Americans connected to Trump have been conducting covert influence operations in Greenland, and the Danish Security and Intelligence Service warned that the territory "is the subject of various influence campaigns."

In particular, digital policy expert Felix Kartte compared this to Moscow's tactics of influencing political outcomes in countries like Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine.

"Russia combines offline and online tactics. On the ground, it collaborates with like-minded individuals, such as extremist parties, diaspora networks, or pro-Russian oligarchs, and reportedly pays people to participate in anti-European or anti-American protests. At the same time, it creates large networks of fake accounts and pseudo-media to amplify these actions online and promote selected candidates or positions. The goal is often not to convince voters that the pro-Russian option is better, but to make it bigger, louder, and more popular than it actually is, creating a sense of inevitability," he explained.

When it comes to Greenland, the U.S. is likely employing some of these methods. As noted by Deputy Trump Administration Chief Stephen Miller, "no one will fight the U.S. for Greenland's future."

At the same time, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said during a visit to the island that "the people of Greenland will have the right to self-determination."

"We hope they will choose partnership with the United States because we are the only country on Earth that will respect their sovereignty and security," he added.

Step 2: Offer Greenland a favorable agreement Politico suggested that if the acceleration of the independence referendum in Greenland is successful and the residents of the territory vote to leave Denmark, the next step would be to bring it under U.S. influence.

"A direct exchange of Denmark for the U.S. seems largely unacceptable to most of the population. The aforementioned poll also showed that 85% of Greenlanders oppose the territory joining the U.S., and even Trump supporters in the independence movement are not thrilled about the idea. But there are other options," the article emphasized.

In particular, since May of last year, reports have circulated that the Trump administration wants Greenland to sign a Compact of Free Association (COFA). Under this, the U.S. provides necessary services, protection, and free trade in exchange for the ability to conduct military operations in the territory of certain countries without restrictions.

Step 3: Engage Europe Politico emphasized that Europe, especially Denmark's EU allies, will oppose any attempts to separate Greenland from Copenhagen, but the U.S. administration has a trump card in this situation - Ukraine.

According to an EU diplomat, the U.S. could offer a "security for security" agreement, whereby Europe receives security guarantees for Ukraine from the Trump administration in exchange for expanding America's role in Greenland.

"While this seems like a bitter pill, it may be easier to swallow than the alternative - irritating Trump, who could respond with sanctions, withdraw from peace negotiations, or support Putin in negotiations with Ukraine," the publication added.

Step 4: Military invasion Politico writes that a military takeover of the territory could be relatively easy for the U.S.

In particular, Thomas Crosby from the Royal Danish Defense College emphasized that Trump's strategists are likely offering him various options.

"The greatest concern is a fait accompli strategy, which we often see and think a lot about in military circles, which involves simply seizing territory, just as Putin attempted to seize Ukraine to assert territorial claims. He could simply send troops into the country and just say that it is now American... U.S. military forces are capable of landing any number of troops in Greenland, both by air and sea, and then declaring it American territory," the expert noted.

At the same time, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies and a security expert on Greenland, Lin Mortensgaard, said that if Trump mobilizes American troops on the ground or sends special forces there, the U.S. could take control of Nuuk "in half an hour or less."

"Mr. Trump says something and then does it. If you were one of the 60,000 residents of Greenland, you would be very worried," warned Danish Member of the European Parliament Stine Bosse.

Meanwhile, NATO allies remain cool-headed about a possible attack.

"We are still far from such a scenario. Tough negotiations are possible, but I don’t think we are close to any hostile takeover," suggested one senior diplomat of the alliance.