Pete Hegseth says the Pentagon has contingency plans to invade Greenland if necessary

The remarks have been met with flat rejections from Greenland’s leaders

Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth (Rod Lamkey Jr/AP)

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to acknowledge that the Pentagon has developed plans to take over Greenland and Panama by force if necessary, but refused to answer repeated questions on his use of Signal chats to discuss military operations during a hotly combative congressional hearing on Thursday.

Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee repeatedly got into heated exchanges with Mr Hegseth, with some of the toughest lines of questioning coming from military veterans as many demanded yes or no answers and he tried to avoid direct responses about his actions as Pentagon chief.