SHANGHAI, January 20. /TASS/. The annexation of Greenland by the United States by military force would deal a heavy blow to the North Atlantic Alliance, said Wang Yiwei, an international relations professor at the Renmin University.
"If US President Donald Trump had forcibly annexed Greenland, it would have been a disaster for NATO, because an attack on one country is an attack on all countries [of the alliance]," the political scientist told TASS. "In other words, the United States would be obligated to protect Greenland from U.S. attack."
The expert believes that the most likely solution for Washington is to transform Greenland into United States’ overseas territory, which is not a member of NATO and which is not subject to Danish sovereignty.
"In this way, the United States will be able to solve its own problems without causing an internal conflict in NATO," he believes.
Trump has repeatedly stated the need for Greenland to join the United States. Even during his first term as president, he offered to buy out the island, and in March 2025 he expressed confidence that it could be annexed. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller had previously questioned Denmark's right to control the island.
Greenland is part of Denmark as an autonomous territory. In 1951, Washington and Copenhagen, in addition to allied commitments to NATO, signed the Greenland Defense Treaty, under which the United States has committed itself to defending the island from possible aggression.