A month after winning the 2024 election, President Donald Trump took the true social to

surface an idea he had floated during his first term in office.

He wrote, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is

an absolute necessity.

But as Trump's second term began, he focused on other territorial ambitions.

My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal.

The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it.

What I'd like to see, Canada become our 51st state.

As 2025 ended, however, Trump turned again to Greenland.

The White House says President Trump won't rule out the use of military action to acquire Greenland.

If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops.

Given the fact that obviously it's effectively Danish territory and in essence then kind of part of NATO, I mean, some suggesting that would then be the end of NATO. Then at last week's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump dropped his threat to use force against Greenland. The president sitting down with NATO Secretary General emerging with a framework of a deal. The president claiming the US will take full control of Greenland, but not telling us how. The crisis was averted, at least for now.

Uncertainty swirls around what was agreed to and about the future of the transatlantic

alliance. From the Council on Foreign Relations, welcome to the president's inbox. I'm Jim

Lindsay. Today I'm being joined by Heather Conley, non-resident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute,

and Rebecca Pinkis, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

Heather and Rebecca, thank you for joining me.

Great to be here, Jim.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Heather, if I may, I'd like to begin with you, and I'd like to just do some basics,

so we also have a common understanding of the issues at stake. Could you explain to us what exactly the relationship is between Denmark and Greenland? Since I hear the Danish government speak on this issue, I also hear the leadership in Greenland speak quite fortunately on the issue.

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