More troops from Denmark are scheduled to arrive in Greenland on Monday evening amid tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has insisted on his desire to acquire the island, despite opposition from Danish and local authorities. The Danish soldiers are set to take part in NATO’s Arctic Endurance training exercise, which will feature contingents from several other European countries.
Maj. Gen. Søren Andersen, Denmark’s top commander in the region, said that 100 troops had already arrived in the territory and will join the exercise. Andersen said the deployment is in response to the threat posed by Russia, not Trump’s demands.
Andersen said that the Danish government also invited the United States to participate in the exercise.
President Trump has grown increasingly insistent that acquiring Greenland for the United States is a vital national security interest, asserting that Denmark and NATO cannot protect the large island from the threats posed by both Russia and China in the Arctic region. The president’s refusal to rule out the use of force to take the territory has unsettled European leaders.
After Danish and local Greenlandic authorities issued a joint statement opposing the U.S. acquisition of the island last week, Trump announced that he would impose tariffs on Denmark and other European countries that send troops to the territory.
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