AXIOS: Miller says no one would stop U.S. from seizing Greenland

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller listens as President Trump addresses the media during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club on Jan. 3 in Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Avery Lotz

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller insisted Monday that Greenland should belong to the United States and said no one would oppose the U.S. militarily should it stake a claim to the self-ruling island.

Why it matters: Miller's remarks ramp up President Trump's ambitions of territorial expansion against a NATO ally, prompting Nordic and European leaders to issue a defense of its territorial integrity.

• Fears of U.S. action spiked after former Trump official Katie Miller — Stephen Miller's wife — posted an image Saturday of Greenland covered with an American flag, captioned, "SOON," just after the stunning U.S. operation in Venezuela.
• Seizing land from an ally would trigger a crisis within NATO, but that hasn't stopped Trump from declaring a "need" for the island.

Driving the news: Miller refused repeatedly to rule out military action against Greenland when asked by CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday."

• Citing the United States' strength as "the power of NATO," Miller said, "obviously, Greenland should be part of the United States."
• Pressed further, Miller said there is "no need" to discuss the president's desire for Greenland in the "context … of a military operation."
• Earlier, when discussing Venezuela in the same interview, Miller said, "we live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world."
• He added, "Nobody is going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland."

Between the lines: Seizing Greenland by force would be the first time a NATO member directly attacked another member's territory since the alliance's creation in 1949.

Yes, but: The leaders of Greenland and Denmark have forcefully rejected Trump's renewed fixation, which he says is rooted in security needs. And European leaders have rallied behind them — while walking the high-stakes tightrope of talking down a NATO ally.

• In a Tuesday statement shared by the Danish prime minister's office, European leaders joined Denmark's Mette Frederiksen in defense of "the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders."
• It describes the U.S. as an "essential partner" in that collective security.
• The statement concluded, "Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland."

Zoom out: On Sunday, Nordic leaders individually released statements expressing a collective solidarity with Denmark and Greenland.

• "It is only Denmark and Greenland that have the right to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a statement. "Sweden fully stands up for our neighboring country."

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Axios in a statement that Trump "believes Greenland is a strategically important location that is critical from the standpoint of national security, and he is confident Greenlanders would be better served if protected by the United States from modern threats in the Arctic region."

Greenland's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, has issued a series of statements in recent days condemning the rhetoric from Washington and extending a request for respectful dialogue with the U.S.

• "Our country is not an object of superpower rhetoric," he said Saturday, per a translated statement. "We are a people. A land. And democracy. This has to be respected. Especially by close and loyal friends."

The big picture: Trump has asserted a so-called "Donroe Doctrine" of hemispheric dominance, a mentality exhibited in the dizzying capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and threats of new military action.

• But as Paula Pinho, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, reportedly emphasized Monday, there would a "big, big difference" in going after Greenland.
• Moving on Greenland would be a seismic shift for NATO, turning the U.S. against members of the alliance.
• To Frederiksen, per the Associated Press, it would mean the end of the collective as the world knows it: She told a Danish broadcaster Monday, "If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops."