“If we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will, and I’m not letting that happen,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
He described Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory rich in minerals, as strategically vital for US national security due to increasing Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic.
Trump said he would be open to a deal “but one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland,” he added.
He mocked the island’s defenses: “You know what their defense is? Two dog sleds.”
Denmark, a NATO member, has reacted with alarm. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that any US attempt to seize Greenland would rupture transatlantic security ties.
'They need us much more than we need them'
Trump dismissed those concerns: “If it affects NATO, it affects NATO. But you know, they need us much more than we need them.”
Greenland has said repeatedly that any decisions about its future must be made by Greenlanders themselves, a position Trump dismissed.
“Greenland should make the deal,” he said. “They don’t want to see Russia or China take over.”
The remarks follow a US military intervention in Venezuela and come ahead of a meeting in Washington on Wednesday between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt.
A group of US senators, including Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski, is also due in Copenhagen this week for talks.
Murkowski has said the United States must see Greenland "as an ally, not an asset, and focus on continued partnership rather than possession."
Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953 and has had home rule since 1979.
(jh/gs)
Source: AFP, PAP
Click on the audio player above for a report by Agnieszka Bielawska.