White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday President Donald Trump and his advisers are discussing a range of options to acquire Greenland and that "utilizing the U.S. military is always an option."
"President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it's vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region," Leavitt said in a statement obtained by ABC News' Rachel Scott. "The President and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief's disposal."
Denmark and its NATO allies pushed back Tuesday after Trump's deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller claimed the U.S. has a right to Greenland and did not rule out use of American military force to seize it.
Denmark's PM urges Trump to 'stop the threats' of annexing Greenland
In forceful remarks Monday, Miller -- the chief architect of several of the Trump administration's hardline policies -- set his sights on acquiring Greenland, a territory of NATO ally Denmark.
His comments echo those of Trump, who told The Atlantic, "We do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense."
In an interview with CNN, Miller said, "The United States should have Greenland as part of the United States," but sidestepped questions of whether the U.S. would use military force to take it.
"The real question is, by what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland?" he said. "What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark?"
"The United States is the power of NATO. For the United States to secure the Arctic region to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, obviously, Greenland should be part of the United States," Miller continued. "And so that's a conversation that we're going to have, as a country."
The rhetoric coming out of the White House has received bipartisan blowback from some lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
"Sabre-rattling about annexing Greenland is needlessly dangerous," Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, in a joint statement with Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona said he would introduce a war powers resolution focused on Greenland.
"We must stop him before he invades another country on a whim," Gallego wrote on social media. "No more forever wars."
Tensions remain heightened among European allies that Greenland might face a fate similar to Venezuela. The U.S. shocked the world on Saturday with its brazen joint military and law enforcement operation in Caracas to capture the country's leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, both of whom were indicted in federal court on drug and other charges.
Miller is expected to have an outsized role in overseeing the next steps in Venezuela along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, though the particulars of his role are still undefined.
Miller was asked repeatedly by CNN if he would rule out taking U.S. military action in Greenland. The Pentagon already operates a base in Greenland and has deployed some 200 troops to enforce Arctic security as part of a long-standing defense agreement.
"Nobody's going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland," Miller said. "We live in a world, in the real world ... that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time."
Following the successful Venezuela operation, Trump pivoted to warning other nations in the Western Hemisphere of U.S. military might, including Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Greenland.
Katie Miller, a former Trump administration official and Stephen Miller's wife, stoked further concern after she posted an image to social media on Saturday that showed the American flag overlaid on an outline of Greenland with the caption "SOON."
Trump has frequently toyed with the idea of taking over Greenland, citing national security concerns and strategy. Greenland's position above the Arctic Circle makes it an alluring hub for international trade with coveted access to mineral resources -- with China and Russia competitively seeking to assert their influence over wide areas of the Arctic.
"We need Greenland from a national security situation," Trump said on Sunday.
"We won't worry about Greenland in about two months. Let's talk about Greenland in 20 days," Trump said. "I just say this, we need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and the European Union needs us to have it."
European leaders push back against Trump, reaffirm NATO unity
The remarks set off a flurry of frustration, anger, and concern from European allies, including Denmark, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warning of catastrophic consequences -- an American attack on Greenland would cause the end of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, she said.
"If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops," Frederiksen said Monday. "That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War."
Frederiksen said Trump "should be taken seriously" when he says he wants Greenland.
"We will not accept a situation where we and Greenland are threatened in this way," she added.
The Danish government on Tuesday published a statement from the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Denmark, who said they "will not stop defending" the principles of "sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders."
"Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland," the leaders said.
Security in the Arctic must be achieved collectively with NATO allies, including the United States, they said.
"NATO has made clear that the Arctic region is a priority and European Allies are stepping up," the statement said. "We and many other Allies have increased our presence, activities, and investments, to keep the Arctic safe and to deter adversaries."
Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen hailed the European leaders' pledge of solidarity and urged the U.S. to maintain a "respectful dialogue."
Greenland's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Research Vivian Motzfeldt posted to Facebook on Tuesday that the governments of Denmark and Greenland have approached Rubio for a meeting in the "near future."
"The strong request for a meeting is related to the US's claims about our country," Meltzfeldt wrote. "Unfortunately, our country's request for a meeting for a long time has not been successful, although this has been repeatedly requested by our country."
ABC News has reached out to the State Department for comment on Denmark and Greenland's request.
The U.S. special envoy to Greenland on Tuesday attempted to walk back Trump and Miller's comments and suggested the administration seeks an "independent Greenland with economic ties and trade opportunities for the United States."
During an interview, U.S. special envoy Jeff Landry, who is also the governor of Louisiana, dismissed concerns that the Trump administration would be violating international law by a possible invasion of Greenland, akin to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
"I disagree. When has the United States engaged in imperialism? Never," Landry said. "Europe has engaged in imperialism. The reason the Danish have Greenland is because of imperialism."
Some analysts say Europe has failed to recognize Greenland as strategically important and must expand its own military presence in the region.
"Europe's problem is not that Washington sees Greenland as a strategic asset. It is that Europe has largely failed to do so itself," Atlantic Council analyst and nonresident senior fellow Justina Budginaite-Froehly said. "For decades, Greenland was treated as a political sensitivity rather than a strategic priority. That complacency is now dangerous."
"Greenland is not for sale. But neither should it be left exposed to a power vacuum," she said. "If Europe wants to ensure that no one can do to Greenland what the United States did in Venezuela, then it must stop relying on rules alone and start building the strategic reality that makes coercion unthinkable."
