US special envoy to Greenland Jeff Landry says Washington needs to “put its footprint back on Greenland,” arguing for a renewed American presence on the Danish autonomous territory. Landry tells AFP that during the Cold War the United States operated 17 military facilities on Greenland, but that many were closed over time. He says the US now maintains only one major base there, Pituffik in the north of the island.
The remarks come as President Donald Trump has repeatedly argued that the United States should secure Greenland for national security reasons, specifically warning that the island could come under greater influence from rival powers such as China or Russia if Washington does not act. Multiple outlets report that Trump frames Greenland as strategically important in the Arctic, and ties any US moves to preventing other countries from gaining leverage.
The sources also note that at Cold War peak levels, the US deployed thousands of troops on Greenland, underscoring the scale of the earlier military footprint compared with today’s reduced posture.
