DONALD Trump could storm Greenland and claim it within 24 hours in the “world’s shortest war”, analysts have revealed.
The incoming US leader has refused to rule out taking Greenland by force after doubling down on his intention to buy the territory from Denmark.
Greenland is not just a frozen mass of ice; it holds significant importance due to its abundance of natural resources and its strategic location in the primary Arctic trade pathways.
It’s become the epicentre of a struggle between superpowers – with Russia and China both ramping up efforts to take control of the region.
And Danish PM Mette Frederiksen has demanded crunch talks with Trump after his latest remarks, insisting: “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.”
But if Trump did invade, America’s military might means a war would be over in just 24 hours, politics professor Anthony Glees told The Sun.
According to Glees, when speaking with The Sun, Trump will be supported by individuals who greatly admire him, empowering him to pursue any unconventional concepts he may have in mind.
Glees said: “In other words, we have to take him seriously.
“And if Trump wanted to take Greenland by force, he could do it in 24 hours.”
As an autonomous territory of Denmark, Greenland has its own ruling body – but people from the island have Danish citizenship.
But Trump said US ownership of Greenland is an “absolute necessity” to protect global “national security and freedom”.
Greenland – the largest non-continent island in the world – has a population of just 57,000, and virtually no defensive capabilities of its own.
As owner of the island, Denmark is responsible for Greenland’s protection and their army would be the army to mobilise against the Americans.
Its defence budget is around £6billion – 100 times smaller than the eye watering almost £750billion America splashes on defence.
As such, the Royal Danish Army would be dwarfed by the United States Armed Forces.
Denmark currently has only 17,000 operational troops, and a large portion of their military machinery has been gifted to Ukraine, leaving their defense mechanisms even more vulnerable than usual.
Some Danish coastguards man south-eastern Greenland, but the Danish press has reported that software needed to shoot at targets was never bought – rendering the patrols toothless.
The Danish Ministry of Defence states that the tasks of the forces around Greenland are “primarily surveillance of the territorial waters”.
Denmark’s best hope of defending against the Americans would be to prove that the EU or Nato had a legal requirement to step in and protect Greenland.
Ulrik Pram Gad, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told Politico that “there is no defensive capacity in Greenland”.
And it means it would be “the shortest war in the world”.
The conflict would present an “unchartered” situation after the US entered a pact with Denmark in 1951 to defend Greenland against any attack.
The US has a nuclear base on the island that is constantly manned by troops.
Kristian Søby Kristensen, a military researcher at the University of Copenhagen, said: “Who would the Americans be fighting? Their own military?”
Glees said it was likely that, in the event of a US invasion, “there would be no military response to it, because it is unthinkable that any Nato member would attack the US”.
If Trump wanted to take Greenland by force, he could do it in 24 hours
Professor Anthony Glees
But he also warned that Denmark would not simply roll over, and the UK would be bound to support our Scandinavian ally by the terms of Nato.
He said: “There would have to be a response of sorts, and Article 5 of Nato would bind the rest of us to support Denmark in whatever non-military measures it took to try to get the Americans out.”
This could take the form of “economic sanctions”, but “Trump would shrug them off,” Glees said.
On the same day that Trump threatened to seize Greenland, his son, Donald Trump Jr., arrived on a huge Trump-branded plane.
On Truth Social, Trump Sr. said: “I am hearing that the people of Greenland are ‘MAGA’.”
Glees believes that Trump primarily wants Greenland’s “rare minerals, to help America make things that otherwise only China could”.
But, by unleashing this public threat of military force, Trump risks sparking instability.
Glees warned that it could play into the hands of Putin – who would like nothing more than to see the Nato alliance shattered.
Trump’s threats could have “profound consequences” for Europe as he is “picking a fight with a staunch Nato ally, Denmark,” he said.
Glees said it’s an attempt to “weaken” European nations that Trump “does not believe are on his side”.
The threat of military action against Denmark, a founding member of Nato, shows he is “not particularly interested in that alliance”.
Glees also warned that Trump’s actions could be a win for Putin and undermine the Nato alliance.
He said: “In taking on Denmark, the immediate winner is Vladimir Putin.”
It comes as the president-elect announced he is arranging to meet with Putin.
Trump said the Russian president “wants to meet, and we are setting it up”.
Glees said: “My opinion is, he is making a disastrous miscalculation there. No country, however powerful it is, can walk alone in the world.
“The idea of a fortress America, it sounds good – but it has never worked in the past.
“An isolated America is a vulnerable America, and vulnerable to extreme opinions.”
Trump has ruffled the feathers of America’s oldest allies with his bizarre Greenland plot.
There would have to be a response of sorts, and Article 5 of Nato would bind the rest of us to support Denmark in whatever non-military measures it took to try to get the Americans out
Professor Anthony Glees
French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot suggested moves on the territory would be an attack on the European Union.
He said: “There is no question of the EU letting other nations in the world, whoever they may be, attack its sovereign borders, whoever they are.
“We are a strong continent.”
Despite his warning, the minister added that he did not believe the US would invade the Danish territory.
He said: “If you’re asking me whether I think the United States will invade Greenland, my answer is no.
“But have we entered into a period of time when it is survival of the fittest? Then my answer is yes.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also hit back and said: “The principle of the inviolability of borders applies to every country, no matter whether it’s a very small one or a very powerful one.”
And Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former prime minister of Denmark, said: “We are taking this very seriously.
“But we don’t have any ambition to escalate a war of words with a president that is on the way into the White House.”
