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Trump Escalates Pressure on NATO With Troop Withdrawal Threat and Greenland Demand
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US President Donald Trump has revived demands for the United States to take control of Greenland while threatening to withdraw all American military forces from Europe, the Financial Times reported on July 8.
Speaking alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara ahead of the annual NATO leaders' summit, Trump stated, “We could remove all of our soldiers out of Europe,” adding his persistent belief that “it continues to be that [Greenland] should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark.”
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The Financial Times noted that this rhetoric risks reigniting a major transatlantic diplomatic crisis that originally escalated in January, when Trump’s initial threats to take control of the Danish-owned Arctic island threw the military alliance into disarray. Trump justified his renewed focus on the territory by criticizing Danish management, asserting, “That’s what hurt my relationship with NATO, because Greenland doesn’t help Denmark. Denmark doesn’t spend money to really help Greenland, but it’s an important part for the United States.”
The US president explicitly linked the potential troop drawdown to his frustration over European allies refusing to assist Washington during its recent war with Iran. According to the Financial Times report, Trump explained he used requests for military support during the crisis as an evaluation of allied loyalty, stating, “I was testing to see whether or not they’d be there, because I’ve long said that we help them, but I’m not sure that they’d be there for us.”
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Expressing dismay that nations like Germany and Italy declined to participate, Trump questioned the financial imbalance of the alliance, asking, “Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars, and they’re not there for us, we’ve always been there for them?”
These remarks come as the Pentagon conducts a six-month review of America’s force posture in Europe, which has already resulted in the withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany. The Financial Times highlighted that Trump openly questioned his own participation in the upcoming security summit due to these disagreements. He remarked that he “was very disappointed with NATO,” further clarifying that if the gathering were not being held in Türkiye, “where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it’s possible that I wouldn’t have attended.”
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Even as Trump criticizes the wider NATO alliance, US military commitments on the eastern flank are growing, and it was previously reported that Washington views Poland as an exemplary ally. Plans finalized in June 2026 outline the deployment of an additional 5,000 American troops to Poland, lifting the total US presence there to 11,000 soldiers.
This buildup points to a promising future for defense cooperation, with both nations actively discussing the creation of a permanent US military base on Polish soil. While the Pentagon had scaled back its regional footprint by canceling a 4,000-troop rotation in May, this upcoming wave of personnel signals a quick pivot to reinforce key allies despite transatlantic tensions.
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