The Trump administration isn't backing down from its Greenland ambitions, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio made that crystal clear on Wednesday. He'll sit down with Danish leaders next week to discuss acquiring the Arctic territory, even as NATO allies watch nervously and wonder what happened to the old rules about not threatening to invade your friends.

Force Still on the Menu

Rubio told reporters that President Donald Trump hasn't taken military options off the table, even after recent events in Venezuela that captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on drug-trafficking charges—a move that already sent shockwaves through Europe. When asked about Greenland specifically, Rubio chose his words carefully: "As a diplomat, which is what I am now, and what we work on, we always prefer to settle it in different ways—that included in Venezuela." Translation: diplomacy first, but don't rule anything out.

Why Greenland Matters

The White House isn't treating this as some whimsical real estate fantasy. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Tuesday that purchasing Greenland remains "an active discussion," with Trump viewing the island as essential for countering Russia and China. She added that "all options are always on the table for President Trump," though "the president's first option always has been diplomacy."

Greenland isn't just ice and polar bears. The self-governing Danish territory sits strategically between North America and Europe, hosts the critical Thule Air Base with US missile defense systems, and contains vast deposits of minerals that European authorities classify as "critical raw materials." American forces already enjoy broad access under defense agreements dating back to 1951 and updated in 2023.

Bipartisan Resistance Builds

Capitol Hill isn't having it. Senators from both parties are preparing legislation to limit Trump's authority to seize Greenland by force. Even Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell broke ranks on Wednesday, warning that "threats and intimidation by US officials over American ownership of Greenland are as unseemly as they are counterproductive." He went further, calling any forcible takeover "an especially catastrophic act of strategic self-harm."

Meanwhile, European governments and Canada have closed ranks around Denmark and Greenland, insisting the island's future belongs to its people and promising to oppose any annexation that violates international law. Danish and Greenlandic leaders have been consistent: Greenland has never been for sale and never will be.