U.S. intelligence chiefs ordered agencies to tighten surveillance on Greenland, the first tangible step toward President Donald Trump’s oft-stated goal of bringing the Arctic island under American control, sources leaked to The Wall Street Journal.
The directive instructed the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Security Administration (NSA), and the CIA to identify Greenlandic and Danish figures who might back U.S. objectives and to gauge public sentiment toward American resource extraction, the outlet reported Tuesday. Its emergence triggered immediate pushback from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who accused unnamed officials of leaking in order to thwart the administration.
“The Wall Street Journal should be ashamed of aiding deep state actors who seek to undermine the President by politicizing and leaking classified information,” Gabbard said in a statement to the Journal. “They are breaking the law and undermining our nation’s security and democracy.”
The “collection emphasis message,” reportedly first circulated late last week, expands intelligence priorities beyond traditional threat targets to Denmark, whose kingdom still formally includes Greenland. A National Security Council spokesman declined to discuss intelligence matters with the Journal but noted that “the president has been very clear that the U.S. is concerned about the security of Greenland and the Arctic.”
Trump has repeatedly declared — most recently in a March joint address to Congress — that Washington “needs” Greenland “for national security and even international security” and is prepared to acquire it “one way or the other.” Asked by NBC News on Sunday whether he would rule out using force, the president said he “won’t rule out anything.”
Vice President JD Vance, then-National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited Greenland in late March, drawing a sharp rebuke from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who said the trip placed “unacceptable pressure” on Greenlanders and Danes alike.
Greenland, with its population of roughly 56,000, sits atop substantial rare earth, oil, and natural gas deposits, though its harsh climate and sparse infrastructure have long complicated extraction. Former U.S. intelligence officials told the Journal the island has seldom been a high-priority collection target because limited resources are generally aimed at perceived threats, not allies.
Neither the Danish embassy in Washington nor the Greenlandic prime minister’s office immediately responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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