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A key figure from Donald Trump's senior advisors has increased tensions on Denmark by questioning Copenhagen’s claim to Greenland.

Military Intervention Dismissed

The president’s deputy chief of staff, also claimed military intervention would not be required to take over the Arctic territory because “nobody is going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland”.

“The idea of military action against Greenland? Greenland has 30,000 inhabitants people,” Miller inaccurately claimed, despite the actual figure being closer to 57,000.

Miller further proposed that Denmark does not have a legitimate right to the region, which is a one-time colonial possession and remains part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Escalating Diplomatic Strains

Miller’s comments follow a period of growing tensions between the US and Denmark after the US president’s renewed calls to purchase Greenland.

The Danish foreign policy committee has called an extraordinary meeting to discuss the bilateral ties with the United States.

In his interview, Miller told CNN that dominion of the island could be gained without military intervention due to its small population.

Questioning Danish Sovereignty

“The real question is what right does Denmark have to exercise sovereignty over Greenland? What legal foundation of their ownership claim?” he asked.

He added: “As the leading power within the dominant force in NATO. For the US to protect Arctic interests to safeguard the alliance, obviously Greenland should be incorporated into the United States.”

There was, he said “no need to even think or talk about” a armed takeover in Greenland, adding: “Nobody is going to fight the US militarily.”

Global Responses

His comments followed Trump remarked recently, following other foreign policy actions, that the US needed Greenland “urgently”.

The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, reacted by saying that an attack by the US a NATO ally would mean the collapse of the defensive pact and “the postwar security order”.

The island's own leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, issued a forceful rebuke, calling on the US president to abandon his “notions of acquisition” and labeled American rhetoric of being “completely and utterly unacceptable”.

Background and Present Position

The aide's assertions came after his wife, a conservative commentator, shared a map on social media of Greenland under a US flag with the caption “SOON”.

Asked about the online image, he laughed and said: “This has represented the formal position of the US government from the start of this presidency... The president has been very clear about that.”

Greenland remained a colony until 1953, when it became part of the Danish realm. The US has had a strategic installation there, critical to its national missile defense network.

In recent years, there has been increasing sentiment for self-rule, particularly after disclosures about Denmark’s treatment of Greenlandic people.

But amid the prospect of Trump’s threat, Greenland in March formed a new coalition government in a demonstration of solidarity, with its agreement stating: “Greenland belongs to us.”