Name: How likely is it that Trump will follow through on his threats regarding Greenland? | DW News
Uploaded: 2026-01-06T08:30:32.000Z
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US President Trump has doubled down on his vow, as we heard, to bring Greenland under the United States control.

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That's despite calls by Denmark's Mette Frederiksen to stop threatening the territory.

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Her comments follow a post by Katie Miller, the wife of one of Trump's top aides and a former aide herself.

You see it right here, showing Greenland in the colors of the American flag.

She added the word soon alongside the picture on Air Force One.

On Sunday evening, Trump reiterated his desire to take over Greenland.

Don't worry about Greenland in about two months.

And by the way, I have to, I will say this about Greenland.

We need Greenland from a national security situation.

Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.

We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security.

And Denmark is not going to be able to do it, I can tell you.

Well, there has been reactions to that comment by the president.

The German Foreign Minister, Johann Vaniful, on a visit to Lithuania today, expressed his full support for Denmark.

I can only say that Greenland, like the Faroe Islands, is part of the Danish Kingdom.

And since Denmark belongs to NATO, Greenland will in principle also be defended by NATO.

If there are further requirements to strengthen defense efforts with regards to Greenland, then we will have to discuss this within the framework of the alliance.

All right, I want to bring in now Boris Miotovic.

He's a member of the German Parliament for the opposition Green Party.

You know, the statement we just heard there from the German foreign minister, it's rather vague.

What's your reaction to the position of Germany with what's happening right now regarding Greenland?

First of all, I have to say this is a very dangerous moment for international order and security.

We have to make sure that it is, that we stand with the rules that we have given ourselves in order not to get in a chaotic world that we have experienced in the 20th century, especially my continent.

Europe has been experiencing a lot of suffering, and so did Asia.

And in that sense, we all stand with Denmark for sure because we don't want open threats and open imperialism again.

Well, you say we all stand with Denmark, but does your Chancellor stand with Denmark?

You know, Chancellor Merz was asked about the situation, and

the statement that came from him was also rather vague.

And he did not condemn what the US did in Venezuela.

He did not call that a violation of international law.

So is your Chancellor, is he speaking for you?

Obviously I want my chancellor to be more clear and more stable in that sense that I just described.

He's given your current president in the US Some time to act and to show that he has substantial proofs to his sayings about Venezuela and the act of aggression that he committed under UN Rules of the UN Charter.

There's only two cases where one country can be attacked.

One is a mandate from the security Channel, which is Security Council, which is obviously not given, and

So if there's any kind of narco terrorists or anything like that, show us the proofs that you have and the chance.

Tesla says I want to see that proofs and maybe he's giving your current president some time.

Well, obviously in my position as an opposition member, I don't need that time because I don't think that there are these proofs that there has been narcotic terrorism that has been endangering the entire U.S.

let me go back to the situation with Denmark and Greenland for a moment.

Do you think that Europe, the European Union, is it doing enough to help Denmark rebuff President Trump's ambitions?

Well, I don't want to go into speculations.

Obviously, Denmark is a close friend not only to the European Union, his partner, and

working together a NATO alliance for more than 50, 60, 70 years.

So basically this kind of friendship shall not be ruined within one act of a president.

My fears go for other regions of the world and for other bullies we have in the world.

This little island is very important for our semiconductors industry, is very important for our democracies in Asia.

It is very, very close friend to all of us and having a scene scenario that is going on there on the same route that we have seen with Venezuela.

And this is something we have to face together as a challenge to a standard that we see in the world.

Let me ask you, some observers say that this should be a warning, maybe a wake up call for the European Union, that the United States under Donald Trump will act in its own interest and only its own interest, and

is not going to see the eu, Europe, Germany as an equal partner.

Do you envision then as a result of this, the countries of the European Union in the future working together more closely?

Do you see the events by the US Pushing Europe into a more unified stance?

We have made decisions on our defence spending, on our capabilities countering cyber attacks, et cetera.

Yes, we have been relying on American friendship for decades, and

especially my home country is grateful to everything the Americans have granted us in the 50s with a Marshall Plan.

We wouldn't have come out of this shit without having American friends.

We have learned our lesson with the first administration of Mr.

now we see that this administration has just been a prequel to what is going on now.

But on the other hand, we have to see losing international order makes the world more chaotic.

That is bad for business, that is bad for globalization, that is bad for shipping, for anything that you have, that we have as a common interest in the markets, in the US in the eu, in South America and in Asia, definitely.

So basically, we have to protect our interest in international order.

We have to defend what we have earned so far, and

all these economic relationships shall put together an interest in international ruling.

If you overthrow this ruling, you cannot be a trustworthy friend any longer.

This is the risk we are in at the moment.

Boris Miyatovi, member of the opposition Green Party here in Germany's Parliament.

We appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us.

Let's now speak to Terry Schultz, a DW correspondent in Brussels.

Terry, the European Union has released a joint statement on the situation in Venezuela, and

I understand you had the chance to ask for more details today at a briefing by the European Commission.

What more do we know about the EU position now?

Well, what we know is that the EU is definitely not starting off 2025 with any bold positions, nor risking any criticism of the United.

So that statement that was put out yesterday, as you mentioned, was really quite bland.

It only mentioned the United States in terms of saying that EU officials had been in touch with the US and the other references in this statement were simply to unnamed actors hoping that they uphold international law and stick to UN principles.

Those are things like refraining from the use of force and settling things peacefully, things that obviously weren't exactly done in Venezuela.

But today, when we asked the European Commission spokespeople for more details on how they view what happened in Venezuela, they were simply unwilling to go any further.

In fact, it even was a bit more confusing because the spokesperson said that perhaps what she called the events of the weekend would actually open the way for a peaceful transition in Venezuela.

Now, of course, when you come to Greenland, that's a completely different matter with Denmark as a member of the European Union, they're not so comfortable taking distance from Donald Trump's renewed threats of about wanting to take over Greenland.

But even there, Michael, they simply referred to previous statements saying that the EU backs Denmark's territorial sovereignty.

So really no one going out on a limb either on Venezuela or even on Greenland.