Trump shifts Greenland from EUCOM to NORTHCOM’s responsibility

An airman assigned to the 109th Airlift Wing participates in a training mission at Raven Camp. (Air National Guard photo by Maj. David Price)

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon announced today that it would move responsibility for Greenland to under US Northern Command, a shift that comes amid international concern over the Trump administration’s designs on the Arctic islands.

“Consistent with the president’s intent and the Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance, this change will strengthen the Joint Force’s ability to defend the US homeland, contributing to a more robust defense of the western hemisphere and deepening relationships with Arctic allies and partners,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a brief statement.

Greenland, an autonomous territory and part of Denmark, was until today under European Command’s area of responsibility, meaning the Pentagon’s commander responsible for operations and activities inside Europe had purview over the islands too. By moving Greenland under NORTHCOM, the commander now charged with overseeing Department of Defense command and control activities associated with homeland defense will be responsible for reporting back up the chain on the islands.

Greenland currently hosts the northern-most American military base, Pituffik Space Base which was former Thule Air Base, and just last week Denmark’s parliament approved additional US installations.

That approval came despite tense relations between Denmark and the US with regard to Greenland, as Trump has repeatedly said the US “need[s]” the land mass for its own strategic security and has not ruled out taking the icy territory by force.

“We need Greenland very badly,” Trump told NBC News in May. “Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.”

Weeks earlier Vice President JD Vance traveled to Greenland, where he was met with a fairly icy reception from locals and where the VP suggested Greenland could become independent from Denmark. (After that visit the Danish foreign minister said, “This is not how you speak to your close allies. And I consider Denmark and the United States to be close allies.”)

Trump’s words have alarmed some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill as well. At a House Armed Services Committee hearing last week, for example, Republican and Democratic members of the House Armed Services pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on whether his department is working on military plans to take Greenland by force.

“Our job at the Defense Department is to have plans for any contingency,” Hegseth told lawmakers repeatedly and in multiple ways, but never outright denying any plans.

At one point, Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, tried to “help” Hegseth out and asked, “You are not confirming in your testimony today that at the Pentagon there are plans that for invading or taking by force Greenland, correct?”

When the defense secretary repeated a version of his line about contingency planning, Turner responded, “I sure as hell hope that is not your testimony.”

“We look forward to working with Greenland to ensure that it is secured from any potential threats,” Hegseth then said.

Around the same time, the Danish ambassador to the US, Møller Sørensen, said Denmark has “significantly increased” the nation’s “expenditures into Arctic security,” one area in which the Trump administration has been critical. The expansion includes more military exercises and the likely deployment of fighter aircraft, which the ambassador told Breaking Defense would involve F-16s.

“It’s not a demonstration against Russia or anything,” the career diplomat told Breaking Defense. Instead, he argued, Denmark’s Arctic buildup is “just to send the signal that we take our security commitments seriously.”

Meanwhile, this week French President Emmanuel Macron made his own visit to Greenland, offering indirect criticism of the US.

“In a few words: Everybody in France, the European Union thinks that Greenland is not to be sold, not to be taken,” he said at a news conference to applause, according to The Associated Press.

Sydney Freedberg contributed to this report.