Washington says it has no plans to increase its military presence in Greenland

The United States has no current plans to increase its military presence in Greenland, the US embassy in Copenhagen said on Jan 9, after President-elect Donald Trump expressed renewed interest in acquiring the vast Arctic island.

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Trump, who takes office on Jan 20, said this week that US control of the strategically important island was an "absolute necessity", and did not rule out using military or economic action such as tariffs against Denmark to make it happen.

Greenland, the world's largest island, has been a part of Denmark for over 600 years, although its 57,000 people now govern their own domestic affairs.

"There are no plans to increase the United States' current military footprint in Greenland," the spokesperson told Reuters. "We will continue to work closely with Copenhagen and Nuuk (Greenland's capital) to ensure any proposals meet our common security needs." Greenland is crucial for the US military and its ballistic missile early warning system since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the island.

The US military maintains a permanent presence at the Pituffik airbase in Greenland's north-west.