EXCLUSIVE: The One Astonishingly Obvious Reason Donald Trump is Being Branded 'Beyond a Moron' Over His Plan to Invade Greenland

The president has cited concerns about Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic and mocked Denmark's military presence, including its dog sled patrols.

Trump has declared: "We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security."

His remarks have reignited diplomatic tensions with Denmark and Greenland, while baffling analysts who say Washington already has nearly unrestricted military access there.

Under a little-known defense agreement signed in 1951 between the United States and Denmark, which still controls parts of Greenland's foreign and defense policy, the U.S. is allowed to "construct, install, maintain, and operate" military bases across the island.

The pact also grants authority to house personnel and control landings, takeoffs, anchorages and the movement of ships and aircraft.

The agreement was updated in 2004 to formally include Greenland's semiautonomous government, requiring consultation on significant changes.

Mikkel Runge Olesen, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies in Copenhagen, said: "The U.S. has such a free hand in Greenland that it can pretty much do what it wants."

He added: "I have a very hard time seeing that the U.S. couldn't get pretty much everything it wanted, if it just asked nicely."

That reality has led to sharp criticism of Trump's rhetoric.

One European diplomatic source told us: "People are calling him 'beyond a moron' on this issue because he is threatening invasion over something the U.S. already effectively has.

"The legal framework is already there."

A former U.S. defense official added: "If this was about security, Washington could expand its presence tomorrow without buying or doing anything. That's why allies are shaking their heads."

Trump's interest in buying Greenland is said to be his preferred plan of action. But Olesen has dismissed the idea outright, saying Denmark does not have the authority to sell the island.

"It is impossible," he said. Greenland's 57,000 residents have the right to decide their future, and a poll last year found 85 percent opposed an American takeover.

Greenland's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, has repeatedly rejected Trump's suggestions, saying this week: "Our country is not for sale."

The strategic roots of that agreement stretch back to World War II, when Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany and its ambassador in Washington struck a deal allowing U.S. forces to defend Greenland.

American troops later established more than a dozen bases there. Today, only one remains active, the Pittufik Space Base, which tracks missile activity across the Arctic.

Peter Ernstved Rasmussen, a Danish defense analyst, said the consultation requirements are largely symbolic. "It is a courtesy formula," he said.

"If the U.S. wanted to act without asking, it could simply inform Denmark that it is building a base, an airfield or a port."

That, experts say, is why Trump's threats have infuriated Danish officials.

Jens Adser Sorensen, a former senior official in Denmark's parliament, said: "Why don't you use the mechanism of the defense agreement if you're so worried about the security situation? The framework is there. It's in place."