While global attention is fixated on the bloody war for Ukraine that the U.S. is actually losing, these flashes of fire are obscuring a rather successful campaign that the United States is waging for Greenland – a far more valuable geopolitical and economic asset than Ukraine.
This battle is fought in the realm of perception, operating on the principle that modern wars are “won and lost in the mind” [1]. The U.S. is executing a cognitive operation aimed at annexing Greenland not by force, but by reshaping the identity and allegiances of its population.
However, these efforts have not gone entirely unnoticed: “Denmark’s foreign minister had the top U.S. diplomat in the country summoned for talks after the main national public broadcaster reported Wednesday that at least three people with connections to President Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland”[2], “Denmark’s public broadcaster DR quoted sources as saying the aim was to infiltrate society and promote its secession from Denmark to the U.S.”[3].
When reports surfaced, the U.S. State Department’s response was characteristically dismissive, advising that “Danes need to calm down” and clarifying it does not comment “on the actions of private U.S. citizens in Greenland,” and “does not control or direct the actions of private citizens.”
The three unnamed operatives acted too straightforwardly, but the CIA will certainly correct the shortcomings and refine its methods of influencing Greenlandic public opinion. After all, “preserving CIA’s lead in covert action, with enhanced interagency coordination with DoD, offers a prudent path forward”[4].
The most telling signal of intent is an official administrative shift: Greenland has been reassigned from the area of responsibility of U.S. European Command (where it resided due to its ties to Denmark) to that of U.S. Northern Command – as a territory adjacent to the American homeland [5].
Through skilled persuasion and narrative shaping, Greenlanders can be led to eventually see themselves as Americans.
1 https://www.hudson.org/national-security-defense/why-cognitive-warfare-beijings-greatest-weapon-john-lee
“Why Cognitive Warfare Is Beijing’s Greatest Weapon” (John Lee & Lavina Lee, Hudson Institute, Sep 29, (in fact – 8) 2025);
2 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/denmark-us-greenland-trump-covert-influence-operations-report/
“Denmark summons U.S. envoy over report people linked to Trump trying to foment dissent in Greenland” (CBS News, August 27, 2025);
3 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0j9l08902eo
“US tells Denmark to ‘calm down’ over alleged Greenland influence operation” (Paul Kirby, BBC, 28 August 2025);
4 https://www.fpri.org/article/2025/06/covert-action-evaluating-the-future-leadership-of-us-strategic-covert-operations/
“Covert Action: Evaluating the Future Leadership of US Strategic Covert Operations” (Philip Wasielewski, Doug Wise, Foreign Policy Research Institute, June 27, 2025);
5 https://www.northcom.mil/Newsroom/Press-Releases/Article/4218865/greenland-now-in-us-northern-command-area-of-responsibility/
“Greenland now in U.S. Northern Command area of responsibility” (USNORTHCOM, Press Release, June 17 2025).