Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at escalating tensions over U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats against Greenland, Venezuela’s crackdown on political dissent, and sweeping protests in Iran.

The leaders of seven NATO members issued a joint statement on Tuesday pushing back against U.S. ambitions to annex Greenland, which is a semi-autonomous region of Denmark.

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The leaders of seven NATO members issued a joint statement on Tuesday pushing back against U.S. ambitions to annex Greenland, which is a semi-autonomous region of Denmark.

“The Kingdom of Denmark — including Greenland — is part of NATO. Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved collectively, in conjunction with NATO allies including the United States, by upholding the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders,” wrote the leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

“Greenland belongs to its people,” they added. “It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”

The rebuke echoes some of the strongest statements yet made by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who told local broadcasters on Monday that NATO must take Trump’s annexation threats seriously or else risk the alliance’s very survival.

“If the United States were to choose to attack another NATO country, then everything would come to an end,” Frederiksen said. “The international community as we know it, democratic rules of the game, NATO, the world’s strongest defensive alliance—all of that would collapse if one NATO country chose to attack another.”

Trump has long expressed interest in acquiring Greenland. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. The island is known for its vast critical mineral deposits and its strategic location in the Arctic.

Throughout 2025, the White House exerted a pressure campaign on both Greenland and Denmark to pursue its goals. In March, a high-level........

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