Trump escalating Arctic push? NORAD deploys military aircraft to Greenland for ‘long-planned’ activities

The United States is set to deploy military aircraft to its Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland for “long-planned” activities amid the escalating tensions over the Arctic island, North American Aerospace Defense Command said on Monday (Jan 20). The statement by NORAD, a joint US-Canada military organisation for aerospace monitoring and defence, comes as US President Donald Trump pushes for taking control of Denmark’s strategic sovereign territory, citing security reasons and threats from Russia and China.

While the statement did not specify what the planned activities were, it added that they were aimed at “defense cooperation” between the US, Canada, and Denmark.

“North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) aircraft will soon arrive at Pituffik Space Base, Greenland. Along with aircraft operating from bases in the continental United States and Canada, they will support various long-planned NORAD activities, building on the enduring defense cooperation between the United States and Canada, as well as the Kingdom of Denmark,” NORAD Command said in a statement.

It added that the activity has been coordinated with Denmark, and Greenland has also been informed. “This activity has been coordinated with the Kingdom of Denmark, and all supporting forces operate with the requisite diplomatic clearances. The Government of Greenland is also informed of planned activities,” the statement read.

NORAD further stated that it “routinely conducts sustained, dispersed operations in the defence of North America, through one or all three NORAD regions (Alaska, Canada, and the continental U.S.).”

Trump’s Greenland push

As Trump expands his threats to take over Greenland, he wrote a letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store over not getting a Nobel Peace Prize despite claiming to end eight wars in the world, linking it to Arctic territory. The US president said that he is no longer obliged to only think of peace, suggesting a possible annexation of the Arctic territory, and also questioned Denmark’s ‘right of ownership’ of the island.

Earlier on Monday (Jan 19), Trump claimed that NATO had warned Denmark about “Russian threat” for 20 years, but Copenhagen “has been unable to do anything about it.”

Last week, Trump announced imposing a 10 per cent tariff on Greenland’s allies, including Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland. He also warned that the tariffs, which will be levied from February 1, will be increased to 25 per cent on June 1.