Denmark Holds Largest Greenland Military Drill With U.S. Excluded

Denmark held one of its largest-ever military exercises in Greenland this week, a multinational drill that did not include the United States as a participant. The exercise sought to strengthen the operational readiness of Denmark’s forces and those of Greenland, the semiautonomous territory that sits at the edge of the Arctic and at the crossroads of great-power interests.

More than 550 people took part, with contingents from several European NATO allies among those on the ground. Official figures showed more than 70 participants from France, Germany, Norway and Sweden. Observers from the United States were present, and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was invited, but Denmark’s Arctic commander, Soren Andersen, told reporters that the U.S. military was not invited to participate with units in the training. “We work together with colleagues on the U.S. Pituffik Space Base, but they were not invited with units for this exercise,” Andersen said, adding that the Danish and American militaries maintain a “very good relationship.” At Pituffik Space Base, the only U.S. base in Greenland in northwestern Greenland, Danish F-12 fighter jets reportedly visited the base, and the pilots met with the base’s deputy commander for coffee.

The Danish military official goal was to bolster readiness across Denmark and Greenland. The drill arrives as Arctic attention has intensified from rival powers and allies alike, drawn by Greenland’s strategic location and its wealth of resources. Greenland is the world’s largest island not connected to a continent and hosts minerals that the European Commission has cataloged as critical raw materials, including some essential for the manufacture of electronics.

Andersen stressed the broader strategic context, saying Russia has built up a long-standing Arctic presence and remains a regional power with which the alliance must contend. He argued that Russia’s activities in the Arctic—coupled with cooperation with Chinese coast guard ships and other actors—underscore the need for vigilance and interoperability among Arctic allies. “I think it’s fair to say that Russia has built up in the Arctic for the last 20 years, and Russia is a regional superpower in the Arctic,” he said, noting operations near the Bering Strait as an example of what he termed unprecedented activity.

The exercise, however, also comes against a backdrop of quieter tensions with a U.S. ally perceived by some Danish officials to be a potential claimant to Greenland itself. President Donald Trump publicly asserted in March that the United States should claim Greenland, arguing that the island’s minerals could bolster American chip production and national security. Danish officials have since made clear that Trump’s stated interest in Greenland is not welcome, even as they maintain important security ties with the United States and stress Greenland’s right to determine its own future.

The broader strategic frame includes another recent development: The Wall Street Journal reported that the Director of National Intelligence ordered U.S. spies to increase intelligence gathering about Greenland’s independence movement, a move the Trump administration did not publicly address. In the wake of those tensions, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen summoned Mark Stroh, the U.S. chargé d’affaires in Copenhagen, following a local broadcast report alleging covert influence operations by members of Trump’s administration in Greenland. Rasmussen’s statement stressed that attempts by any country to interfere with the Kingdom of Denmark would be unacceptable. A U.S. State Department official later said that the United States and Denmark reaffirmed strong ties and respected Greenlanders’ right to determine their own future.

As Arctic interest grows among global powers, the Danish-led drill in Greenland illustrates how security cooperation continues even as political fault lines—real or perceived—color the context. Copenhagen argues that the exercise strengthens deterrence and readiness in a region that has become a focal point for resource competition, strategic signaling, and alliance management. For Greenland, the exercise signals that while it remains under Danish sovereignty, its strategic importance extends well beyond its geographic remoteness, shaping conversations about security, trade, and governance in a changing Arctic.