President Donald Trump has directed commanders from the Joint Special Operations Command to prepare a contingency plan for a potential military invasion of Greenland, according to sources familiar with the discussions cited by The Mail on Sunday, setting off alarm within the U.S. military and among NATO allies.
The reported directive follows a recent U.S. military operation in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife on January 3. Encouraged by that outcome, administration officials described as foreign-policy “hawks,” reportedly led by senior adviser Stephen Miller, are said to be pressing for rapid action to secure Greenland before Russia or China expands its Arctic footprint.
Greenland, the world’s largest island and an autonomous territory of Denmark, has long been viewed as strategically vital because of its Arctic location, proximity to key naval routes, and access to rare earth minerals. The United States already maintains a military presence on the island through existing agreements, including operations at Pituffik Space Base.
According to multiple sources who spoke to The Daily Mail, however, senior U.S. military leaders — including members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — are forcefully resisting the idea. They argue that a forcible seizure of Greenland would violate international law and face steep opposition on Capitol Hill.
One diplomatic source characterized the internal response bluntly: “The generals think Trump’s Greenland plan is crazy and illegal. So they are trying to deflect him with other major military operations.”
Diplomats have reportedly conducted war-gaming exercises to model potential outcomes. In one “escalatory scenario,” the United States could use military force or political coercion to sever Greenland’s ties with Denmark. A diplomatic cable outlining a worst-case outcome warned that such a move could trigger “the destruction of NATO from the inside.”
The cable added: “Some European officials suspect this is the real aim of the hardline MAGA faction around Trump. Since Congress would not allow Trump to exit NATO, occupying Greenland could force the Europeans to abandon NATO. If Trump wants to end NATO, this might be the most convenient way to do it.”
A less confrontational “compromise scenario” has also been discussed, under which Denmark would grant the United States expanded military access to Greenland while formally barring Russia and China. Such an arrangement would place current U.S. operations on firmer legal ground without a direct seizure of territory.
British diplomats have suggested that domestic political considerations may also be shaping the president’s posture, including a desire to shift public attention away from economic concerns ahead of this year’s midterm elections, where Democrats could regain control of Congress, a move that wouldn’t make much sense since the president recently got good economic news from the Federal Reserve of Atlanta, which predicted a major economic boom in the upcoming fiscal quarter.
The proposal has unsettled U.S. allies across NATO. Danish officials have previously warned that any attempt to take Greenland by force would mark the “end of NATO,” while Greenlandic leaders have issued a rare unified rejection of U.S. ambitions. In a recent joint statement, they declared: “We do not want to be Americans, we do not want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders.”
President Trump has publicly reiterated his interest in the territory, but his advisers have said there’s no need for military action in Greenland.
TAPPER: Can you rule out that the US is going to take Greenland by force?
STEPHEN MILLER: Greenland should be part of the US. By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? The US is the power of NATO.
TAPPER: So you can't take military force off the table?
MILLER:… pic.twitter.com/9ikEPvlBVA
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 5, 2026
The White House has not immediately commented on the reported planning directive.
