President Trump isn't playing around when it comes to the United States taking control of Greenland, and he just sent a warning shot to the island's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, that Nielsen's continued resistance is "going to be a big problem for him."
The president made the remark Tuesday after being questioned about Nielsen's loud proclamation this week that he chooses Denmark over the U.S. Here's Trump's full response to that: "Well, that's their problem. That's their problem. I disagree with him. I don't know who he is. Don't know anything about him, but that's going to be a big problem for him."
Prime Minister Nielsen has been doing a lot of jawing this week, ahead of Wednesday's meeting at the White House between Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and delegations from Denmark and Greenland. (Greenland is an an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.)
I wrote a VIP piece Tuesday about the absurdity of the plea Nielsen made on Monday to have NATO forces protect Greenland in the event that the U.S. decides to forcefully invade it. Here's what he said:
“The United States has once again reiterated its desire to take over Greenland. This is something the government coalition in Greenland cannot accept under any circumstances.
Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. As a part of the Realm, Greenland is a member of NATO, and the defense of Greenland must therefore be insured through NATO.”
In case the Greenland PM hasn't been paying attention of late, the United States is NATO and NATO is the United States. We fund it, we staff, and we decided when and where its forces will be deployed. Nielsen essentially asked the U.S. to defend Greenland from a U.S. invasion.
President Trump addressed Nielsen's odd appeal to NATO in a Wednesday morning Truth Social post, reiterating that the "United States needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security," stating the territory, "is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building."
SEE ALSO: Hold, Please: Greenland Wants *Who* to Defend It From Being Invaded by the U.S.?
Greenland Leaders Reject U.S. Control: 'We Don't Want to Be Americans'
As for NATO? The alliance, wrote the president, "should be leading the way for us to get it." If it doesn't, he warned that Russia or China will. "NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES," said Trump. "Anything less than that is unacceptable."
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 14, 2026
Interestingly, while Greenland's PM and other regional authorities downplay the possibility of a hostile takeover of the island by Russia or China, Denmark's Danish Defense Intelligence Service (DDIS) recently released a pointed assessment of Russian and Chinese military ambitions for Greenland and the Arctic.
But the "Intelligence Outlook 2025" report on the security of the Kingdom of Denmark, released just last month, had warned at great length that “China is preparing for a military presence in the Arctic” and that “China’s long-term Arctic interests include Greenland.” The report highlighted Chinese air-based, seaborne, and submersible activities in the Arctic.
The Danish intelligence report had further assessed that the militaries of China and Russia were collaborating more closely in the Arctic, displaying the growing “DragonBear” alliance between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The report noted that Russia “uses every available tool to monitor and chart the waters between Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the United Kingdom” as “part of the preparations for a potential confrontation with NATO” and as the Kremlin deploys submarines, ships, and planes near Greenland.
These conclusions are in complete alignment with those of an annual threat assessment performed by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence. President Trump has previously said that the U.S. will have Greenland "one way or the other," so today's White House meeting should be interesting.
Be sure to stick with RedState to find out if we're inching closer to "go time" in Greenland.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
Help us continue to report on the administration’s peace through strength foreign policy and its successes. Join RedState and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member