Denmark maintains 20,000 active-duty troops, 117 aircraft (with 35 combat-capable), 44 tanks, 50 warships (including 9 frigates) and a roughly $5 billion defense budget to protect its 6 million citizens.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says an American takeover of Greenland would amount to the end of the NATO military alliance.

Trump’s threat to annex an autonomous part of Denmark has plunged NATO into an unprecedented situation: An alliance based on collective defense now faces the prospect that one member might attack another.

Top Trump aide Stephen Miller says it's the "formal position" of the White House that Denmark's territory of Greenland "should be part of the U.S."

The leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the U.K. joined Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Tuesday in defending Greenland’s sovereignty in the wake of Trump’s comments about Greenland, which is part of the NATO military alliance.

The rhetoric follows a dramatic U.S. raid in Venezuela and revives Trump’s long-standing focus on Greenland, transforming diplomatic discussions into fears of coercion. But U.S. military posture there remains unchanged.

The Trump administration is actively exploring ways to acquire Greenland, either through purchase or by force.

Small but modern, Denmark’s armed forces are disciplined and capable, yet far outmatched by the United States, raising questions about defence in the Arctic if geopolitical ambitions over Greenland escalate.