A former US military leader, known for advising Donald Trump on military matters, has shared insights into the president’s intentions regarding Greenland as tensions escalate.
Despite the White House indicating that Trump is exploring various strategies, including military options, to acquire Greenland, retired US general Jack Keane asserts that the talk of using the military was a mere tactic to pressure the Danish government. Keane believes that Trump has no serious intentions of physically seizing control of Greenland through military force.
Keane, speaking on The Times’s The General and the Journalist podcast, describes Trump’s approach as a negotiation tactic aimed at securing a security agreement between the United States and Greenland. According to Keane, Trump’s goal is to strike a deal.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to visit Denmark to discuss potential solutions, including a proposal to purchase the 836,330-square-mile island located around 2,000 miles from the US coast.
While there are warnings that Trump is determined to obtain the resource-rich island by any means necessary, even potentially deploying US forces, senior Republican senator Mitch McConnell has criticized Trump’s aggressive negotiation style as unproductive and inappropriate.
Keane, a former US Army vice-chief of staff, declined offers to become Trump’s defense secretary but continues to advise the president informally on defense matters regularly. He emphasizes that a US invasion of Greenland would be unprecedented and illegal based on executive limitations.
Despite some commentators suggesting that international law may not hold sway in such situations, United States Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller argues that power and force govern the world.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer asserts that Greenland’s fate should be determined solely by Denmark and Greenland, emphasizing their right to make decisions regarding the territory.
Greenland, with a population of approximately 57,000, has had significant autonomy since 1979, although Denmark oversees its defense and foreign affairs. The US Space Force maintains a presence on the island through Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Base), with around 200 personnel stationed there permanently.