American officials have ordered the espionage agencies to increase efforts to gather intelligence in Greenland, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter, in a sign of President Donald Trump apparently focuses on acquiring the island.
The directive was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The movement has drawn objections from Denmark, an NATO ally that governs the semi -autonomous island.
Denmark Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said he will summon the US ambassador to the report. “I am very worried because we are not going to friends,” Rasmussen said, according to the Ritzau news agency.
The Intelligence Director’s office sent a directive last week to intelligence agencies to collect information about the political movement of Independence of Greenland, perceptions about the interest of the United States in the island’s resources and identify people who support Washington’s objectives for Arctic Island, sources said.
The directive occurred in the form of a “message of collection emphasis”, which establishes priorities for intelligence efforts, sources said.
James Hewitt, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said in an email: “We do not comment on intelligence matters. However, the president has been very clear that the United States is concerned about the security of Greenland and the Arctic.”
The national intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard, alleged in a statement that government officials tried to undermine Trump through the filtration of classified information.
“The Wall Street Journal should be ashamed to help Deep State actors who seek to undermine the president politicizing and filtering classified information,” the statement said. “They are violating the law and undermining the security and democracy of our nation. Those who filter classified information will be found and responsible for the law.”
Gabbard added: “I have referred three illegal leaks to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution, and we are investigating almost a dozen more.”
It was not clear why the administration was resorting to espionage to obtain information about an American ally that could probably be obtained by diplomats or an open source investigation, said Marc Polymeropoulos, a former career officer.
“This seems to be something that could be managed by the channels of the diplomatic and state department,” he said. “Why would you waste precious intelligence resources in this?”
In an interview last weekend with Kristen Welker from NBC News, Trump refused to rule out the territory by force.
“I don’t say I will, but I don’t rule out anything,” Trump said. “We need very bad Greenland. Greenland is a very small amount of people, who will take care of, and appreciate them, and all that. But we need it for international security.”
In a speech before a joint session of Congress in March, Trump said: “One way or another, we will get it.”
A January survey commissioned by the Danish newspaper Berlingske and Groenlandic Daily Sermitsiaq showed that 85% of Greenlands do not want their island to become part of the United States.
The United States Army has a base in the northwest of Greenland, which is part of an early ballistic missile algancation system.
Greenland has acquired to increase the strategic importance as global warming has caused a competition in the Arctic among the powers of the world. And the rare land minerals of Greenland, uranium and iron have a growing global interest as climate change could make these natural resources more accessible.
