Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, said Greenland is central to U.S. national security as global competition increasingly shifts toward the Arctic, arguing that Denmark lacks the capacity to defend or control the territory while expecting the United States to shoulder the cost.
Miller made the remarks while discussing the strategic importance of Greenland and the broader implications of polar competition, which he said is becoming a key arena for geopolitical rivalry.
“Greenland is essential for America’s national security,” Miller said.
“The new domain of international competition is going to be polar competition. That is where more and more resources are being spent by our nation’s adversaries and rivals, is the ability to control movement, navigation lanes of travel in the polar and Arctic regions.”
Miller emphasized the sheer size of Greenland, noting that it far exceeds what many Americans may realize and presents major defense challenges.
“Greenland is 25% larger than Alaska,” he said.
“Greenland is the size of 1/4 the continental United States with respect to Denmark.”
He argued that Denmark does not have the economic or military capacity to exercise meaningful control over such a vast territory.
“Denmark is a tiny country with a tiny economy and a tiny military they cannot defend Greenland,” Miller said.
“They cannot control the territory of Greenland under every understanding of law that has existed about territorial control for 500 years.”
Miller outlined what he described as the basic standards required to legitimately control territory, asserting that Denmark has failed to meet them.
“To control a territory, you have to be able to defend a territory, improve a territory, inhabit a territory,” he said.
“Denmark has failed on every single one of these tests.”
According to Miller, Denmark nonetheless expects the United States to bear the financial burden of defending Greenland while retaining full ownership.
“So they want us to spend hundreds of billions of dollars defending a territory for them that is 25% bigger than Alaska at 100% American expense,” Miller said.
“But they say while we do this, it belongs 100% to Denmark.”
Miller described that arrangement as fundamentally unfair.
“It’s a raw deal,” he said.
“It’s an unfair deal, and most importantly, it’s unfair to the American taxpayer.”
He placed the issue within a broader historical context, arguing that the United States has long carried the financial and military burden of defending Europe.
“The American taxpayer, who have subsidized all of Europe’s defense for generations now,” Miller said.
“American dollars, American treasure, American blood, American ingenuity is what keeps Europe safe and the free world safe.”
Miller said President Trump is challenging what he views as a longstanding imbalance in transatlantic defense responsibilities.
“And Donald Trump is insisting that we be respected,” Miller said.
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