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One of Donald Trump’s senior advisors has ramped up the pressure on the Danish government by questioning Copenhagen’s claim to the vast Arctic island.

Military Intervention Dismissed

Stephen Miller, stated emphatically military intervention would not be needed to assume control of the Arctic territory because “nobody is going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland”.

“The idea of military action against Greenland? Its population numbers just a population of 30,000 people,” he incorrectly stated, the correct number being closer to 57,000.

He also suggested that Copenhagen lacks a valid claim to the territory, which is a former Danish colony and remains part of the Danish kingdom.

Growing Tensions

These remarks come amid growing tensions between the US and Denmark after the US president’s renewed calls to annex Greenland.

The Danish foreign policy committee has convened an emergency session to discuss the kingdom’s relationship with the United States.

In his interview, Miller asserted that dominion of the island could be achieved without armed conflict due to its limited number of residents.

Questioning Danish Sovereignty

“The core issue is on what grounds does Denmark have to assert control over Greenland? What legal foundation of their territorial claim?” Miller questioned.

He added: “As the leading power within the power of NATO. For the US to protect Arctic interests to defend NATO, obviously Greenland should be part of the US.”

There was, he said “no need to even consider or discuss” a armed takeover in Greenland, reiterating: “No country would wage war against the US over this issue.”

Global Responses

His comments followed Trump remarked recently, fresh from events in Venezuela, that the US needed Greenland “very badly”.

Denmark's leader, Mette Frederiksen, reacted by saying that an attack by the US a NATO ally would mean the collapse of the defensive pact and “the postwar security order”.

Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, also made a forceful rebuke, urging Trump to give up his “fantasies about annexation” and accused the US of being “completely and utterly unacceptable”.

Background and Present Position

The aide's assertions came after his wife, podcaster Katie Miller, posted a map on social media of Greenland under a US flag with the caption “IN THE NEAR FUTURE”.

Asked about the online image, he responded by stating: “This has represented the official stance of the US government from the start of this presidency... The president has been very clear about that.”

Greenland was under colonial rule until 1953, when it was integrated of the Danish realm. The US maintains a strategic installation there, important for its national missile defense network.

Recently, there has been growing support for Greenlandic independence, especially following disclosures about Denmark’s treatment of Greenlandic people.

But amid the prospect of Trump’s threat, Greenland in March formed a new coalition government in a demonstration of solidarity, with its agreement stating: “Greenland belongs to us.”