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One of Donald Trump’s top aides has ramped up the pressure on the Danish government by questioning Denmark's sovereign claim to Greenland.

Force Deemed Unnecessary

Stephen Miller, also claimed the use of armed force would not be required to assume control of the northern landmass because “nobody is going to fight the United States in combat over the fate of Greenland”.

“The idea of military action against Greenland? Greenland has a population of 30,000 people,” Miller inaccurately claimed, despite the actual figure being closer to 57,000.

Miller further proposed that Denmark does not have a valid claim to the region, which is a former Danish colony and remains part of the Danish kingdom.

Escalating Diplomatic Strains

These remarks come amid increasing friction between the two NATO allies after the US president’s renewed calls to annex Greenland.

The Danish foreign policy committee has called an extraordinary meeting to examine the kingdom’s relationship with the United States.

Speaking to media, Miller asserted that dominion of the island could be achieved without military intervention 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 ownership claim?” he asked.

He added: “The US is the power of NATO. For the US to secure the Arctic region to safeguard the alliance, obviously Greenland should be incorporated into the United States.”

There was, he said “no requirement to even consider or discuss” a armed takeover in Greenland, adding: “Nobody is going to fight the US militarily.”

Global Responses

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

Denmark's leader, Mette Frederiksen, responded by warning that an American aggression against a fellow alliance member would mean the end of the defensive pact and “post-Second World War security”.

Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, issued a forceful rebuke, urging Trump to abandon his “fantasies about annexation” and labeled American rhetoric of being “completely and utterly unacceptable”.

Historical Context and Current Stance

Miller’s comments were preceded by his wife, a conservative commentator, posted a map on social media of Greenland under a US flag with the caption “SOON”.

Asked about the online image, he laughed and said: “It has been the formal position of the US government from the start of this presidency... Donald Trump has been very clear about that.”

The territory was under colonial rule until 1953, when it was integrated of the kingdom of Denmark. The US maintains a strategic installation there, critical to its ballistic missile early warning system.

Recently, there has been growing support for self-rule, particularly after revelations about historical policies of Greenlandic people.

However, facing the prospect of acquisition talk, Greenland in March established a new coalition government in a show of national unity, with its founding document declaring: “Greenland belongs to us.”