President Trump shared a new video that touts past U.S. military efforts to defend Greenland, a semiautonomous island in the Arctic that the president has repeatedly shown interest in annexing.
“In the cold silence of the tundra, a bond was born not from treaties or trade, but from blood and bravery. While Germany controlled Europe, the Nazis set their sights on the Arctic. Greenland became an unwitting combatant, and the United States stepped in, not to conquer but to protect,” the narrator says in the 90-second video that was released Friday.
“In 1943, nearly 1,000 American soldiers with four chaplains set sail from New York to Greenland, carrying with them hope, duty and a quiet fear. But their ship was torpedoed by a Nazi U-boat, and the frigid waters of the North Atlantic became a grave. Those four chaplains gave up their life vests, giving their lives so that others might live to protect America and Greenland,” the narrator said in the video that was created by Securing American Greatness, a pro-Trump dark money group that was formed during the 2024 presidential election.
The 90-second video, which showcases clips of Greenland and footage from World War II, said that Americans and Greenlanders “stood as sentinels at the top of the world,” but nowadays, the world’s largest island, whose foreign affairs are overseen by Denmark, is faced with new “threats” from Russia’s “aggression” and China’s “expansion.”
“Our shared legacy lives on in every joint mission, every Arctic patrol, every partnership forged in the shadow of melting ice and rising tensions, this is not just history,” the narrator says. “It is destiny. Now is the time to stand together again, for peace, for security, for the future. America stands with Greenland.”
The video from the 501(c)(4) nonprofit was released as Vice President Vance was completing his visit to Greenland. There, Vance toured the U.S.’s Pituffik Space Base, which is in the northwestern part of the island. Vance also got a military briefing on Arctic security.
Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared the video in posts on X.
The vice president said Friday that the U.S. is not likely to use the military to annex Greenland, that he respects the Arctic island’s sovereignty and contended that eventually Greenlanders will choose full independence from Denmark.
“We do not think military force is ever going to be necessary,” Vance said. “What we think is going to happen is that the Greenlanders are going to choose, through self-determination, to become independent of Denmark, and then we’re going to have conversations with the people of Greenland from there.”
Trump has consistently voiced his desire for the U.S. to acquire Greenland, telling the public it would bolster Washington’s security on the world stage and minimize the threats from China’s efforts to be a bigger player in the region to deter Russia from accessing the Arctic.
Greenland’s officials criticized the U.S. delegation’s initial trip itinerary, featuring second lady Usha Vance, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and including attendance at a dogsled race. Greenland has emphasized the island is not for sale.
Securing American Greatness, the dark-money nonprofit, can support or oppose candidates for elected office as long as electioneering is not its main activity. The organization, like other dark money groups, can raise an unlimited amount of money without having to disclose its donors.
During the 2024 election cycle, Securing American Greatness gave Make America Great Again Inc., the primary Super PAC that backed Trump’s White House run, a $52 million contribution on Oct. 22 and dished out a $15 million donation on July 18 to SAG PAC, another pro-Trump outside group, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
