Denmark covertly planned to destroy runways in Greenland to prevent American aircraft from landing, according to a shocking new investigation by Danish public broadcaster DR.

The alleged emergency plan – devised as tensions escalated over Donald Trump‘s push for the United States to control the island for national security – included flying in troops, medical kits and blood supplies, and positioning explosives for potential runway demolition.

Quoting a Danish military operations order dated January 13, sources informed DR that soldiers from Denmark and several European allies were deployed to the vast Arctic territory in January under the guise of a NATO exercise named Arctic Endurance.

However, insiders claimed the mission had an operational aspect, with teams prepared to sabotage airstrips if necessary to stop US aircraft from landing without Danish or Greenlandic approval. France, Germany and Sweden were reportedly among the countries involved.

An anonymous Danish military official told DR: “When Trump says all the time that he wants to buy Greenland, we had to take all possible scenarios seriously.”

Both Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens‐Frederik Nielsen and Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen have consistently dismissed any US acquisition of the island.

Despite the preparations, Danish authorities were reported to be desperate to avoid a direct confrontation with Washington, and the alleged plan was a last-resort, worst-case contingency.

Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, occupies crucial air and sea routes between North America and Europe and straddles the emerging Arctic shipping lanes – rendering it a prize in the new era of great-power competition and climate change.

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The island’s strategic position and natural resources have attracted increasing attention in recent years, intensifying debates within NATO over deterrence, sovereignty, and who holds sway in the High North.

In January, Trump insisted his plan to annex Greenland is ‘imperative for national and world security’ and refused to rule out an invasion.

However, speaking at the World Economic Forum, he said: “I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland.”

The US already maintains a military presence on the island thanks to pre-existing arrangements.

This week, the head of US Northern Command, General Gregory Guillot, said Washington is working “with Denmark through the Department of State to expand some of the authorities that are in the 1951 treaty to give increased access to different bases across Greenland,” adding: “everything that we’re doing through NORTHCOM is through Greenland and through Denmark.”