Denmark Mobilizes to Defend Greenland from US in 2026

In January 2026, Denmark quietly mobilized forces to defend Greenland against a potential United States invasion, according to a military operations order issued on January 13 and reviewed by Danish public broadcaster DR. The preparations, disguised as a routine NATO exercise called Arctic Endurance, involved deploying troops with explosives and blood supplies to the autonomous Danish territory, amid escalating tensions over U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated demands to acquire the strategically vital Arctic island.

The order outlined measures to organize Greenland's defense, prompted by Trump's longstanding interest in controlling the territory for national security reasons. Danish officials took the threats seriously following a U.S. military operation in Venezuela on January 3 that ousted President Nicolás Maduro, which heightened fears that similar unilateral action could target Greenland. "When Trump says all the time that he wants to buy Greenland, and then we see what happens in Venezuela, we had to take all possible scenarios seriously," a Danish military official told DR on condition of anonymity. The official added that the U.S. government's traditional mechanisms...