Denmark reportedly took steps to potentially sabotage Greenland’s airstrips with explosives and transported blood supplies amid concerns of a possible American invasion earlier this year, according to a recent report from Danish public broadcaster DR.
These precautions were part of a detailed contingency strategy that involved sending military personnel to Greenland in January. They carried explosives intended for the potential destruction of runways, a move designed to block U.S. aircraft from landing, as reported by EuroNews.
Specifics of these actions were documented in a Danish military operations order dated January 13, which DR claimed to have examined.
The Greenlandic flag can be seen flying in the capital, Nuuk, Greenland, on January 20, 2026. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
This preparation occurred in response to rising tensions following President Donald Trump’s comments suggesting that the U.S. should control Greenland for its national security benefits.
Both Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen consistently dismissed Trump’s proposals to purchase the island.
DR said it based its report on 12 sources within the highest levels of the Danish government and military and sources among Denmark’s allies in France and Germany, the BBC said.
More Danish soldiers land at Nuuk airport in Greenland Jan. 19, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/via Reuters)
“When Trump says all the time that he wants to buy Greenland … we had to take all possible scenarios seriously,” an unnamed Danish military official told DR.
Denmark and several European allies also deployed troops to Greenland under what was a NATO exercise called Arctic Endurance.
In reality, according to the sources cited by DR, the deployment was operational.
Soldiers arrived equipped not only with standard military gear but also with the medical supplies and the explosives, the report said. Â France, Germany and Sweden also took part in the January deployment.
Despite the preparations, Danish authorities sought to avoid escalation with Washington.
Trump announced a vague “framework” agreement on Greenland with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Jan. 21, though details remain unclear.
President Donald Trump said in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 21 that the U.S. is the only nation that is able to control and secure Greenland. (Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
At the World Economic forum in Davos Trump said, “I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland.”
On March 17, the commander of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), Gen. Gregory Guillot, said, “We are working with Denmark through the Department of State to expand some of the authorities that are in the 1951 treaty to give increased access to different bases across Greenland.
“But everything that we’re doing through NORTHCOM is through Greenland and through Denmark.”
