Williams Quoted in Newsweek Article on Greenland’s Election and What It Means for Trump

March 14, 2025

Newsweek

Michael J. Williams

Public Administration & International Affairs Department

Center for European Studies

Elections

Europe

Federal

Government

International Affairs

NATO

United States

Newsweek

Michael J. Williams

Greenland's election results could impact U.S. efforts, particularly Trump's ambitions, to increase influence over the Arctic territory, despite all major parties opposing U.S. ownership.

While public opinion strongly rejects becoming a U.S. territory, Washington may still pursue closer cooperation on security and mineral extraction. If the new government seeks greater independence from Denmark, Trump might attempt to leverage economic incentives and defense agreements to strengthen ties with Greenland.

Michael Williams, associate professor of public administration and international affairs, says that cooperation in Greenland between the U.S. and founding NATO member Denmark is likely to continue but security in that part of the North Atlantic will remain a concern for Trump.

“One would hope that the administration and Donald Trump could satisfy their concerns about Arctic security by working with a NATO ally,” says Williams.

But it would be hard to imagine Trump ordering forces to land on Greenland to capture it by force because this would fracture the whole NATO alliance.

Trump's aspirations for the island could be a ploy to push policy changes such as NATO members beefing up their military spending following his distancing from the alliance. “Maybe it's an opening gambit for some sort of negotiation,” Williams says.

Read more in the Newsweek article, “What Greenland's Election Means for Donald Trump.”