US President Donald Trump has called Greenland critical for the US homeland security against threats from Russia and China, but some analysts in Moscow and Beijing are not happy, calling it a big threat to their security.
Trump, on January 14, tied the need to annex Greenland to national security and his aspirational “Golden Dome,” a proposed multi-layer missile defense system that could detect, track, and destroy various threats, including ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles.
“The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security. It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social. “NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES. Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
Where Does Greenland Fit In The Golden Dome Infra?
Greenland, which lies between the United States and Russia, has long been seen by Americans as a region of great strategic importance for Arctic security.
In fact, Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the self-governing island will unintentionally end up in the hands of China or Russia if the United States does not seize control of it.
“We need that because if you take a look outside of Greenland right now, there are Russian destroyers, there are Chinese destroyers, and, bigger, there are Russian submarines all over the place. We’re not gonna have Russia or China occupy Greenland, and that’s what they’re going to do if we don’t.”
The White House, on January 14, published a photo suggesting that Greenland’s future was at a crossroads between the US and Russia/China.
Which way, Greenland man? https://t.co/G0NnJdZRJK pic.twitter.com/TLmOwst6M6
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 14, 2026
While experts have rebuffed claims of an immediate Russian or Chinese security threat to Greenland or the larger Arctic region, Trump’s math is simple: Greenland is vital for American security, especially Alaska, the largest state of the US, in the event of a potential clash with Russia or China.
Under a long-standing defense cooperation agreement with Denmark dating back to 1951, the US currently operates the Pituffik Space Base in northern Greenland. Advanced radars for missile warning, space surveillance, and early launch detection are housed at this base, including the AN/FPS-132. In fact, it has been a crucial component of the US missile defense system for several years.
The US wants to exploit Greenland’s strategic location to expand the coverage of the defense shield that the Golden Dome project aims to build over the US, involving a constellation of satellites equipped with advanced sensors and space-based interceptors.
Besides Russia, the US has also grown increasingly concerned about the growing challenges posed by China in the Arctic region. While it lies in another continent and is far from being an Arctic state, China termed itself a “near-Arctic state” in the first iteration of an Arctic policy paper in 2018.
It has since taken coordinated measures to bolster its presence in the region, and the US likely fears that an enhanced Chinese presence could ultimately turn the Arctic into a military flashpoint between the West and Russia and China.
Russian & Chinese Reactions To Golden Dome
Alexander Stepanov, a military expert at the Institute of Law and National Security at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, told TASS that the Golden Dome deployment in Greenland is aimed at monitoring the situation in the Arctic and providing the capability to intercept Russian hypersonic weapons.
“The Golden Dome project is aimed at monitoring airspace and near-Earth space for the timely detection of launches and interception of various types of offensive weapons – not only in the Western Hemisphere, but also in the northern waters and Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. This is primarily about developing a countermeasure capability against Russian hypersonic weapons,” he explained.
Hypersonic weapons travel at five times the speed of sound and follow an unpredictable trajectory, making them much harder to intercept by existing missile defense systems. On its part, Russia has four hypersonic weapons in its inventory: Kinzhal, Tsirkon, Avangard, and Oreshnik.
The Russian expert further added that, in addition to the Pituffik Space Base, the Pentagon intends to install additional ground-tracking stations and radar systems in Greenland, including the upgraded AN/TPY-2 radar with a gallium nitride antenna array, to ensure strategic dominance in the Arctic. Additionally, the US Navy command intends to build a naval station to supply logistical support for the fleet of nuclear submarines operating in the Arctic, he stated emphatically.
This is not the first time that a Russian expert or official has openly critiqued the Golden Dome. After the program was officially announced in May last year, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zarakhova said the Golden Dome project undermines the foundations of strategic stability as it involves the creation of a global missile defence system.
Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, called space-based interceptors “extremely destabilizing,” creating a direct path to militarizing space and transforming it into a battlefield.
At the same time, though, he expressed confidence in Russia’s ability to counter it, noting that Russian strategic systems are designed to penetrate any defense.
“I would like to emphasize that there are no grounds for alarm, there are grounds for serious concern, and the task of ensuring our security under any conditions becomes even more pressing,” the senior diplomat explained. “Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that our strategic systems are equipped so that we can reliably break through any air defense systems, including layered ones.”
Meanwhile, Dmitry Rogozin, former deputy prime minister and head of the Russian Space Agency, said, “Orbital sensors, ground interceptors, decision-making algorithms — all this requires advantageous geography. Greenland, with its Arctic position, proximity to Russia, and convenience for northern ICBM trajectories, fits perfectly into this architecture.”
“This is the dismantling of the entire system of strategic stability in the world that has prevented the use of nuclear weapons since 1945,” he continued, cautioning that it might lead to the “beginning of the end of the world.”
Analyst Aleksandr Ermakov of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations in Moscow said the system’s design was unclear, while assessing that it was intended to reduce the risk of attacks from China and Russia. However, he expressed confidence in countermeasures such as Russia’s Poseidon torpedo and Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile.
China’s responses have been more measured. Responding to the program’s announcement last year, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said the Golden Dome is an “unconstrained” development of a comprehensive missile defense system that violates the Outer Space Treaty (OST) and raises the possibility of an arms race and the militarization of space.
Chinese academics gave more nuance. Writing in the journal Contemporary International Relations (published by the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, a research center under the Ministry of State Security, two Chinese academics contend that the Golden Dome is a “fundamental break” from Biden’s “integrated deterrence” or even Obama’s emphasis on “rogue actors.” Instead, reflecting a “deeper skepticism of traditional deterrence logic,” the US wants to be able to counteract strategic strikes by major nations because it is not content with its ability to intercept a limited nuclear attack.
In a separate commentary, Guo Xiaobing, director of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations’ Center for Arms Control Studies, contends that the Golden Dome is a prime example of the US’s ambition to build “left-of-launch” capabilities, which jeopardize strategic stability. Guo also points out that the Golden Dome shows a new level of animosity by specifically targeting China and Russia for the first time.
An article by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) that surveyed Chinese and Russian reactions to the Golden Dome noted that analysts contend that if the Golden Dome is successful, it might make it more difficult for their nations to use nuclear bombs against the United States, undermining their strategic deterrents.
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