Rubio tells lawmakers Trump plans to buy Greenland — but it’s not for sale
European leaders and Greenland residents respond to President Trump’s renewed threats to seize Greenland. nyti.ms/4jtK8Dn
— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) Jan 6, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told lawmakers that President Trump plans to buy Greenland rather than invade it, while Mr. Trump has asked aides to give him an updated plan for acquiring the territory, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
Mr. Rubio made his remarks in a briefing on Monday with lawmakers from the main armed services and foreign policy committees in both chambers of Congress. The same day, Mr. Trump told aides to deliver an updated plan.
The congressional briefing was focused on Venezuela, but lawmakers raised concerns about Mr. Trump’s intentions on Greenland given aggressive remarks this week by the American president and a top aide, Stephen Miller, two officials said.
Mr. Rubio did not go into detail on what he meant by buying Greenland. Mr. Trump spent decades in New York as a real estate developer, and one of his top diplomatic envoys, Steve Witkoff, comes from the same background. Mr. Trump has coveted Greenland since his first term.
Greenland is a sparsely populated, autonomous territory that falls under the sovereign boundaries of Denmark, a member of NATO. Denmark established colonial control over Greenland in the 18th century, and allowed it to become autonomous in the 20th century.
On Tuesday, leaders of six NATO nations joined with Mette Frederiksen, the prime minister of Denmark, to issue a remarkable joint statement pushing back against Mr. Trump’s assertions that the United States should take over Greenland. The nations that aligned with Denmark were Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland, all of which are close allies of the United States.
“Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved collectively, in conjunction with NATO allies including the United States, by upholding the principles of the U.N. Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders,” they said. “These are universal principles, and we will not stop defending them.”
“Greenland belongs to its people,” they added. “It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Mr. Trump had not ruled out a U.S. invasion of 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,” she 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.”
Some lawmakers voiced concern about Mr. Trump’s stated plans. On Tuesday evening, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, and Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, issued a joint statement saying the U.S. government must respect its allies.
“When Denmark and Greenland make it clear that Greenland is not for sale, the United States must honor its treaty obligations and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” said the senators, who lead the Senate NATO Observer Group.
“Any suggestion that our nation would subject a fellow NATO ally to coercion or external pressure undermines the very principles of self-determination that our alliance exists to defend,” they added. [Continue reading…]