PRESIDENT Trump has already started on a four step plan to snatch Greenland.
Experts say it would be alarmingly simple for the US to make a grab for the strategically important Arctic island.
The takeover could be achieved in just four steps, and the Don has already started work on step one.
An anonymous Danish politician admitted to Politico that the mineral rich island cannot defend itself, saying: “It could be like five helicopters … he wouldn’t need a lot of troops.
“There would be nothing they [Greenlanders] could do.”
The four-step plan to grab the Danish Island follows reports that Trump “aims to buy” the NATO territory, but would not rule out taking it by force.
If the president cannot strike a deal with Denmark to swap cash for control of Greenland, he has a four step plan to take the territory anyway.
Step one is to influence Greenlanders
This step is already underway, with Trump talking up Greenland’s independence from Denmark as soon as he came into office.
Unshackled, Greenland could work more closely with the US – at the moment the island has to seek approval from Copenhagen to sign treaties.
Independence officially needs Greenlanders to vote in a referendum to approve their split from Denmark.
56 per cent of the island’s inhabitants said they would vote for independence in a 2025 opinion poll, with 28 percent saying they would vote to remain a part of Denmark.
The first step of pushing citizens towards independence has already involved an alleged secret plot by the US to stir-up anti-government fury in the arctic island.
In August last year, Danish spies said they had uncovered a plot to promote Trump’s takeover of the territory.
In March, the US Vice President JD Vance visited Greenland and claimed that Denmark was not keeping the island safe, saying that “the people of Greenland are going to have self-determination”.
Once an independence referendum in Greenland is won by separatists, Trump will move on to the next stage.
Step two is to seduce Greenland with a sweet deal
After pushing the arctic island to break up with Denmark, the US would look to bring newly freed Greenland under its own influence.
The US could try and make the island into its 51st state, an idea Trump has toyed with before.
On Monday, Katie Miller, the wife of Trump aide Stephen Miller, posted an image of Greenland in US flag colours with the word “soon”.
Yet 85 per cent of Greenland’s population don’t want to become part of the US.
It’s more likely that Trump could get Greenland to sign a deal called a Compact of Free Association (COFA).
This deal would mean the president can put boots on the ground on the island in exchange for providing services, protection and free trade – the US currently has deals like this in place with Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau.
One pro-independence Greenlandic MP, Kuno Fencker, said things “can only go upwards” if Nuuk splits with Copenhagen.
Referring to Trump’s claim that the US has a “need” for the island, Fencker said: “Denmark has never said that they ‘needed’ Greenland.
“Denmark has said that Greenland is an expense, and they would leave us if we become independent.
“So I think it’s a much more positive remark than we have ever seen from Denmark.”
Thomas Crosbie, an associate professor of military operations at the Royal Danish Defence College, warned Greenland will get a raw deal from Trump.
He said: “Trump’s primary identity as a deal-maker is someone who forces his will on the people he’s negotiating with…
“I really see zero benefits to Greenlandic people other than a very temporary boost to their self esteem.”
Art-of-deal-writer Trump is determined to secure an agreement, and once it’s signed, he has just two steps left in his takeover plan.
Step three is to woo sceptical European allies
Europe has balked at the idea of a US annexation of Denmark, with some fearing an invasion could mean the end of NATO.
France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain and Denmark have rallied together to support the Danish autonomous territory.
A strong statement from the European leaders – led by Sir Keir Starmer and France’s Emmanuel Macron – states that: “Greenland belongs to its people.”
“It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” the leaders added.
So the next step in the president’s plan is to win over his allies in Europe, and he does have one crucial trump card to play.
As peace negotiations gather pace to end the war in Ukraine, Kyiv wants any deal to include serious, long-term security guarantees from the US.
One tactic Trump could employ to get Europe on side with his Greenland takeover would be to give security guarantees to Ukraine in exchange for control of the island.
If Europe doesn’t agree, the president could favour a pro-Putin deal in peace talks.
There’s one final option if step three fails, and it could be achieved in less than 30 minutes, according to a Greenlandic security expert.
Step four is to take Greenland by force
Trump continually refuses to rule out military action to invade Greenland, as the White House said this week that using the army is “always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal”.
White House deputy chief of staff and homeland security adviser Stephen Miller argued “nobody’s gonna fight” America over the future of Greenland.
Lin Mortensgaard, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies and an expert on Greenlandic security, said the US military could grab control of Nuuk “in half an hour or less.”
Danish Member of European Parliament Stine Bosse said: “Mr. Trump says things and then he does them.
“If you were one of 60,000 people in Greenland, you would be very worried.”
The world’s strongest military power is unlikely to struggle to take the lightly defended island by force.
Few expect that Greenland or its allies would put up a fight – not least because doing so could spell the “end of Nato”, as Danish PM Mette Frederiksen said on Monday.
Once this fourth step is accomplished, Trump will have secured a vital strategic base, and the world will reel from the consequences.