Danish soldiers were flown to Greenland in January carrying explosives to destroy key airport runways if Donald Trump ordered an invasion, according to Denmark’s public broadcaster DR.
Copenhagen reportedly sought political support from Paris, Berlin, and the Nordic nations to demonstrate strong European solidarity and expand joint military activities in Greenland, with France and Germany backing the approach.
The Financial Times quoted Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who said: “We have been in the worst foreign policy situation since the Second World War. The only reason we are today in a better situation is because we have European cooperation.”
Two European officials reportedly confirmed the story, while the Danish defence ministry told the BBC it “has no comment”.
A senior Danish military official, speaking anonymously, told the BBC that “only a limited number of people would have been aware of the operation for security reasons.”
The Danish troops reportedly carried enough explosives to demolish the island’s main runways near the capital, Nuuk, and at the former fighter base in Kangerlussuaq and blood supplies were flown in to treat the wounded in case of fighting.
DR said it based its reporting on multiple high-level sources in the Danish government, and among European allies.
The situation reportedly escalated on 3 January when elite US forces conducted a lightning operation in Caracas, seizing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, which heightened European concern.
Following this, Donald Trump told reporters he would “worry about Greenland in about two months” and repeated that “we need Greenland from a national security situation. It’s so strategic,” also claiming without evidence that “right now Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.”
A high-ranking Danish security source told DR that “when Trump keeps saying he wants to take over Greenland, and then what happened in Venezuela happened, we had to take all scenarios seriously.”
A European official told the Financial Times that “after Venezuela, they (Americans) thought they could walk on water. Let’s take this thing, and this country.”
Soon afterwards, a small military contingent of Danish, French, German, Norwegian Swedish soldiers were flown to the Greenland capital Nuuk and Kangerlussuaq, where there is an airport.
A member of the French armed forces walks on ice in Greenland during joint military drills with Danish, Swedish, German and Norwegian home guard units (Photo: Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters)French President Emmanuel Macron said the initial contingent would be reinforced with “land, air, and sea assets.”
DR reported that a follow up deployment included elite Danish soldiers and a French unit trained for cold weather, mountainous warfare supported by Danish aircraft and a French naval vessel.
The deployment was officially presented as part of Danish-led joint military exercises called Operation Arctic Endurance, but DR said the real reason was to prepare for a possible US invasion.
Officially presented as part of Danish-led joint military exercises called Operation Arctic Endurance, the deployment was reportedly intended to prepare for a possible US invasion and deter unilateral action.
Denmark reportedly decided its soldiers would fight if necessary, and they were prepared to destroy runways to prevent American aircraft from landing.
“The cost to the US would have to be raised. The US would have to carry out a hostile act to get Greenland,” a Danish defence source told DR, while acknowledging that troops would likely have been unable to repel a full-scale US attack.
An invasion of Greenland would face enormous logistical challenges. The island is vast, sparsely populated, and largely covered by ice, with only a handful of airstrips and ports capable of handling heavy equipment. Harsh Arctic weather, limited infrastructure, and extreme remoteness would make transporting troops, vehicles, and supplies difficult, while sustaining any occupying force would require constant resupply over thousands of miles of ocean. These factors make Greenland a highly defensible location despite its small military presence.
On 21 January, Trump – who had earlier refused to rule out using force to take over Greenland – said at the World Economic forum in Davos: “I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland.” He later stated he was seeking “immediate negotiations” to find a compromise and defuse tensions.
The issue has deeply divided Washington and its European allies
Both Denmark and the US are Nato members, meaning any US military action against Greenland would constitute attacking an ally, risking a severe rupture, or even collapse of the alliance.
Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in annexing Greenland, but Greenland’s government and Denmark have repeatedly rejected these demands.
Why does Trump want Greenland?
Greenland is strategically valuable for both defence and surveillance. It sits between North America and Europe at the gateway to the Arctic, hosting the US military installation at Pituffik Space Base, which supports early-warning radar, missile tracking, and space communication systems.
Its location allows monitoring of Russia’s northern fleet and provides advantage over the Greenland‑Iceland‑UK (GIUK) gap, a critical route for submarines and aircraft heading to the Atlantic.
The island is also rich in natural resources. Greenland is believed to hold some of the world’s largest known untapped deposits of critical minerals, including rare earth elements, zinc, copper, uranium, all essential for modern technology and defence industries.
Its Arctic location may also offer future economic and transport potential as melting ice due to climate change opens new shipping routes and intensifies geopolitical competition in the region.
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