Pentagon to redraw command map to more closely align Greenland with the US

Politico

2 days ago

The Pentagon is poised to shift its oversight of Greenland by putting it under U.S. Northern Command, a symbolic gesture that would more closely align the island territory with the U.S. as President Donald Trump continues to show interest in taking control over the Arctic landmass.
The shift in oversight, which could come as soon as this week, could also help the U.S. broaden its Golden Dome missile shield by providing more radars for coverage.
Under the plan, Greenland would shift from European Command's jurisdiction to Northern Command, which is responsible for overseeing the security of North America, according to a DOD official and two people familiar with the planning. The people were granted anonymity to discuss the move ahead of its announcement.
The switch is the most concrete step yet in the Trump administration's months-long effort to gain ownership over Greenland, an autonomous island aligned with Denmark. Trump briefly brought up buying Greenland during his first term, but has talked about it repeatedly since winning the election last November, alarming the island's 58,000 inhabitants and frustrating the Danish government, which says it has no interest in selling.
Making Greenland part of Northcom will be heavily scrutinized in Denmark and throughout NATO, which has been uneasy over Trump's months-long campaign to take control over the island and his refusal to rule out military action to seize territory. Denmark and the semi-autonomous Faroe Islands will remain under European Command, creating a symbolic and operational split between those territories and Greenland.
'From the perspective of geography, the move makes some sense,' said one of the people familiar. 'From a political perspective, however, this clearly is going to worry Europe,' the official added.
The switch in jurisdiction is part of the Pentagon leadership's review of the Unified Command Plan, which outlines the areas of responsibility for the department's six geographic combatant commanders. While the Greenland split doesn't involve any major shifts in leadership, other proposals — including combining Northern Command and Southern Command and pulling the Africa Command back under the Germany-based European Command — would have deep impacts on the number of three- and four-star officers serving in the military, and on how many assets are assigned to different areas of the globe.
The Trump administration has for months talked about the strategic importance of Greenland for U.S. security, pointing out that its location in the North Atlantic makes American control critical for stepped-up missile defense programs and monitoring Russia and Chinese shipping in the Arctic.
The change opens the possibility of adding more Golden Dome radar systems on Greenland and expanding that network of sensors, while more closely aligning the island with Canadian and American regional defense plans.
The Danish embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. A DOD official deferred to the White House, which did not respond to a request for comment.
Northern Command is chiefly responsible for protecting U.S. territory and oversees missions such as the southern border, air and missile defense, and working with Canada and Mexico on joint security matters.
Putting Greenland under Northern Command would, in effect, cleave Greenland from Denmark when it comes to how the island is prioritized in policy discussions at the Pentagon and the White House.
The second person familiar with the planning said the Danish government has not been formally briefed on the upcoming move.
The U.S. has long had a military presence on the island. In March, Vice President JD Vance and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz visited the Pituffik Space Base, which boasts the Pentagon's northernmost deepwater port and has long functioned as a strategic location to watch Russia and China.
In Greenland, Vance urged the Arctic island to 'cut a deal' with Washington, saying, 'I think that you'd be a lot better coming under the United States security umbrella than you have been under Denmark's security umbrella.'
In January, the Danish government pledged to spend an extra $2 billion on Greenland security initiatives, in part to placate Trump's security concerns. But NATO and European officials have been cautious about the American president's interest in the island.
Trump's comments on the importance of the Arctic have caught the attention of NATO leaders. The alliance's secretary general, Mark Rutte, said last week that 'for NATO, we're getting more involved' in Arctic security issues. He added that Trump calling attention to Russian and Chinese moves in the region marked a positive development.
In an interview with NBC last month, Trump said he would not rule out taking Greenland by military force. 'I don't say I'm going to do it, but I don't rule out anything,' he said. 'We need Greenland very badly.'