Denmark reportedly announced Friday it will spend $8.5 billion on new ships, aircraft, and defense systems aimed at protecting the Arctic, following months of pressure from President Donald Trump, who has accused Copenhagen of neglecting Greenland’s security and leaving it vulnerable to Russian and Chinese encroachment.
The new investment appears designed to demonstrate that Denmark is taking Trump’s concerns seriously, even as the U.S. president continues to express interest in acquiring Greenland — a resource-rich island he has described as vital to American and global security.
“Security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic is a common interest for the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States,” Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark’s ambassador to Washington, said in an interview. “Today’s announcement underscores our commitment to further strengthen defense and security in the region with capabilities that expand the assertion of sovereignty and surveillance.”
Under the plan, Denmark will dedicate roughly $4 billion toward Arctic defense projects, including two new Arctic ships, maritime patrol aircraft, drones, a new headquarters for the Arctic Command, and an early-warning radar in East Greenland. It will also fund construction of a subsea communications cable linking Greenland and Denmark. Another $4.5 billion will go toward purchasing 16 additional U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets, bringing Denmark’s total fleet to 43.
The announcement follows growing U.S. frustration that Denmark, despite its NATO membership, has underinvested in protecting Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory. President Trump has repeatedly criticized Copenhagen for leaving the Arctic island exposed to geopolitical competition, warning that both Moscow and Beijing have sought to gain influence there.
In recent years, China attempted to finance airport projects on the island, an effort the U.S. successfully blocked in 2018. American defense officials argue that Greenland’s location — just 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle and home to Pituffik Space Base, the U.S.’s northernmost military installation — makes it essential to counter both Russian expansion and Chinese economic ambitions in the Arctic.
Trump has long argued that Greenland’s mineral wealth, including oil, natural gas, and rare-earth elements critical for renewable energy technology, makes it a strategic asset for the United States. “We need Greenland very badly,” Trump told NBC in May. “It’s a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.”
The president’s renewed focus on the island has revived tensions with Copenhagen. In August, Denmark summoned the U.S. ambassador over reports of a covert American campaign to strengthen ties with Greenland’s pro-independence movement. Yet Trump’s administration insists that its actions are driven by legitimate security concerns.
“The President believes Greenland is a strategically important location, and is confident Greenlanders would be better served if protected by the United States from modern threats in the Arctic region,” said a senior administration official. “President Trump is committed to establishing long-term peace at home and abroad.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, while announcing the new spending, warned that Washington’s ambitions have not faded. “Right now it seems far away. There is perhaps a feeling that we can breathe a sigh of relief,” she told parliament. “It is my belief that we cannot.”
For Denmark, the $8.5 billion investment is both a signal of loyalty to its NATO ally and an effort to reassert sovereignty over an island whose strategic value — in energy, minerals, and geography — has once again captured Washington’s attention.
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