Denmark prepared to sabotage Greenland’s airstrips using explosives and stockpiled blood amid fears of a possible US invasion earlier this year, according to a new report from Danish public broadcaster DR.
The measures are said to be part of a contingency plan, which included sending troops to the island in January with explosives for possible demolition of the runways, intended to prevent US planes from landing. EuroNews said.
The measures were set out in a Danish military operations order dated January 13, which DR said it had revised.
RUSSIA AND CHINA Squeeze US Arctic Defense Zone While Trump Eyes Greenland
The Greenlandic flag flies in Nuuk, Greenland, January 20, 2026. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
The preparations were made as tensions escalated over President Donald Trump’s declaration that the US should control Greenland for national security reasons.
Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen have repeatedly rejected Trump’s demands to acquire the island.
DR said it based its report on twelve sources within the highest levels of the Danish government and military, and sources among Denmark’s allies in France and Germany, the BBC said.
TRUMP’S GREENLAND PUSH drives Danish Prime Minister to call early elections
More Danish soldiers land at Nuuk Airport in Greenland on January 19, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/via Reuters)
“If 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 have also sent troops to Greenland as part of a NATO exercise called Arctic Endurance.
According to the sources cited by DR, the deployment was in reality operational.
Soldiers arrived equipped not only with standard military equipment, but also with medical supplies and explosives, the report said. France, Germany and Sweden also took part in the January deployment.
Despite the preparations, the Danish authorities tried to avoid an escalation with Washington.
Trump announced a vague “framework agreement” on Greenland with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on January 21, although the details remain unclear.
TRUMP SENDS OUR MILITARY HOSPITAL SHIP TO GREENLAND TO ‘CARE’ THE SICK
President Donald Trump said Jan. 21 in Davos, Switzerland, that the U.S. is the only country that can 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, US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) commander General Gregory Guillot said: “We are working with Denmark through the Department of State to expand some of the authorities established in the 1951 treaty to provide greater access to several bases in Greenland.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“But everything we do through NORTHCOM goes through Greenland and Denmark.”
