Military experts reject Trump’s logic that U.S. must own Greenland to defend it

President’s assertion runs counter to decades of policy and undermines deterrence, say former officials

- Daniel Michaels

Greenland is a semiautonomous Danish territory that is larger than Alaska.

(AP)

resident Trump’s assertion that the U.S. must own Greenland to expand its defenses there runs counter to decades of policy and undermines the deterrence of its global network of bases and alliances, say former American military and diplomatic officials.

Trump has said the U.S. should have full control of the island, a semi-autonomous Danish territory that is larger than Alaska. In recent days, he has said the U.S. needs to own it to assure Arctic and U.S. security.

“When we own it, we defend it. You don’t defend leases the same way. You have to own it,” Trump said Friday. “And we'll have to defend Greenland. If we don't do it, China or Russia will.”

But military officials and diplomats say the U.S. has built the world’s most formidable assembly of overseas military bases without owning foreign soil.

The Defense Department manages or uses more than 128 foreign bases in at least 51 countries, according to a Congressional Research Service report from 2024. Independent analyses have said the total number, including smaller facilities, could top 750 installations in 80 countries and territories. Many date to World War T land the Cold War.

In almost all cases, land is provided by host countries under bilateral agreements, without a change of ownership. Host countries generally permit the U.S. to build and operate facilities, as spelled out in detailed diplomatic documents.

“We don’t need ‘ownership’ in order to conduct all the operations we would like to do,” said retired Navy Adm. James Stavridis, a former supreme allied commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.