Formal maneuvers would force US participation and signal bloc-wide support for Denmark’s sovereignty over the territory, reports say
France has requested a NATO exercise in Greenland in a bid to stave off US leader Donald Trump’s ramped-up effort to acquire the island, French media reported on Wednesday, citing President Emmanuel Macron’s office.
Trump has long sought to take control of the autonomous Danish Arctic territory, citing security concerns and the need to counter Russia and China – though both the Danish government and Greenland’s autonomous authorities have stressed that the island’s status is non-negotiable.
The US president’s rhetoric has heightened tensions with European NATO partners, who reject any change to Greenland’s status and warn such a move could upend the bloc.
According to TF1 and France24, France has now formally requested that NATO organize joint drills on the island. Government sources said such bloc-wide maneuvers would require US participation and demonstrate support for Denmark, signaling that its security and sovereignty are taken seriously.
“France is requesting a NATO exercise in Greenland and is ready to participate in it,” the French presidency was cited as saying.
Several European NATO members opposing Trump’s plans, including France, Germany, and the UK, sent small contingents to Greenland last week for reconnaissance ahead of Denmark’s ‘Arctic Endurance’ exercises – a move interpreted as a symbolic reaffirmation of sovereignty. The drill, however, is outside NATO and does not involve the US. Trump, in response, threatened tariffs on countries opposing his Greenland plans, prompting warnings of retaliation from European leaders.
Trump said he planned multiple meetings with European leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week to discuss Greenland. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he claimed there was “no going back” on his goal to control the island. When asked directly how far he would be willing to go, his cryptic response was: “You’ll find out.”
Macron condemned Trump’s Greenland rhetoric in his Davos address on Tuesday, calling the US a “bully” and insisting that Europe would not be intimidated, choosing “rule of law over brutality.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday dismissed Trump’s claims that Moscow or Beijing pose a threat to Greenland, saying “Washington knows full well” that neither has plans to seize the territory. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun likewise urged the US not to use a fabricated “China threat” as a pretext to pursue its interests around the island.