Fearing a U.S. invasion of Greenland in January, Denmark allegedly drew up plans to destroy the island’s runways to prevent American aircraft from landing, according to a Thursday report from Danish public broadcaster DR.
Citing 12 “high-level” sources inside the Danish government and “military sources among Denmark’s allies in France and Germany,” the outlet said it had reviewed a January 13 military operations order outlining a secret plan to deploy Danish troops to Greenland equipped with explosives and “blood supplies” in the event of military conflict.
Euronews reported that the plan was conceived after President Donald Trump signaled at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January that the U.S. would seek to annex the autonomous Danish territory.
In fairness, Trump also told attendees, “I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland.”
Both Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen were adamantly opposed to this course of action. And with Operation Absolute Resolve, the U.S. military operation that captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, fresh in mind, tensions were already high.
A Danish military official who spoke to DR on the condition of anonymity said, “When Trump says all the time that he wants to buy Greenland, and then we see what happens in Venezuela, we had to take all possible scenarios seriously.”
Two European officials, who also requested anonymity, confirmed DR’s reporting to The Financial Times.
When contacted by the BBC, the Danish Defense Ministry declined to comment.
The BBC also spoke to a senior Danish military official, who noted, “only a limited number of people would have been aware of the operation for security reasons.”
It was widely reported in January that Denmark and several European allies, including France, Germany, and Sweden, had sent troops to Greenland for military exercises. But it’s only now that we’re learning the deployment, known as Operation Arctic Endurance, was “operational.”
At the conclusion of the World Economic Forum in January, Trump announced he and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had reached a “framework” agreement on how to move forward in Greenland. But the specifics of the deal were extremely vague.
Fox News reported that earlier this week, Gen. Gregory Guillot, the commander of U.S. Northern Command, said, “We are working with Denmark through the Department of State to expand some of the authorities that are in the 1951 treaty to give increased access to different bases across Greenland.
“But everything that we’re doing through NORTHCOM is through Greenland and through Denmark.”
Given that the U.S., Denmark, France, Germany, and Sweden are all NATO allies, the situation presents a delicate and potentially fraught dilemma. It comes amid heightened strain driven by the U.S.–Israel war against Iran, particularly the initial reluctance of European allies to join Washington’s efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
If accurate, the episode marks one of the most extraordinary chapters in modern transatlantic relations: a moment when NATO allies, behind closed doors, contemplated sabotaging one nation’s infrastructure to defend against a member-nation of the alliance. Even if never enacted, the plan reveals just how close the NATO alliance may have come to an unprecedented internal rupture.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY