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One of Donald Trump’s senior advisors has ramped up the pressure on Denmark by challenging Copenhagen’s claim to Greenland.

Military Intervention Dismissed

Stephen Miller, stated emphatically the use of armed force would not be required to assume control of the Arctic territory because “no nation would engage the United States militarily over the fate of Greenland”.

“The idea of military action against Greenland? Greenland has 30,000 inhabitants people,” Miller inaccurately claimed, the correct number being closer to 57,000.

He also suggested that Denmark does not have a legitimate right to the region, which is a former Danish colony and continues as a constituent country of the Danish kingdom.

Growing Tensions

These remarks follow a period of increasing friction between the US and Denmark after the American leader's repeated interest to annex Greenland.

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

Speaking to media, Miller told CNN that control over Greenland could be achieved without military intervention due to its small population.

Questioning Danish Sovereignty

“The real question is what right does Denmark have to exercise sovereignty over Greenland? What legal foundation of their territorial claim?” Miller questioned.

Miller continued: “The US is the dominant force in NATO. For the US to protect Arctic interests to safeguard the alliance, obviously Greenland should be part of the US.”

There was, he said “no requirement to even think or talk about” a armed takeover in Greenland, reiterating: “No country would wage war against the US militarily.”

Global Responses

His comments came after Trump remarked recently, fresh from events in Venezuela, that the US needed Greenland “very badly”.

The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, reacted by warning that an American aggression against a fellow alliance member would mean the collapse of the military alliance and “post-Second World War security”.

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

Background and Present Position

The aide's assertions were preceded by his wife, a conservative commentator, posted a map on social media of Greenland draped in a US flag with the tag “IN THE NEAR FUTURE”.

When questioned on the online image, he responded by stating: “This has represented the formal position of the US government from the start of this presidency... The president 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 military base 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 the local population.

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