Trump tells Europe and Nato to hand over Greenland – or else
He casts the request as a ‘small ask’ over a ‘piece of ice, cold and poorly located’
[DAVOS, Switzerland] President Donald Trump upped the pressure on Europe to cede control of Greenland or face the consequences, saying that Nato owes it to the US to grant it full rights to the Arctic territory.
In a speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday (Jan 21) after prompting days of elevated transatlantic tensions over his plans, Trump said that he was seeking “immediate negotiations” on acquiring the island – which is sovereign Danish territory – for national security reasons.
Trump cast the request as a “small ask” compared to the defence shield that the US has offered Nato countries for decades.
“What I’m asking for is a piece of ice, cold and poorly located, that can play a vital role in world peace and world protection,” he said.
But while Trump seemingly ruled out the use of military force, he insinuated that he would weigh Europe’s response to his demands when considering the US commitment to the alliance going forward.
“You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative, or you can say no, and we will remember,” the president said.
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Trump’s speech was closely watched for any signs that he was backing off his demands to take the world’s largest island, after triggering strong pushback from multiple allies from eastern Europe to the Nordic nations and heavyweights Germany, France and the UK.
Instead, he doubled down, deriding Europe’s liberal democracies, government policies, Nato’s effectiveness and singling out individual leaders including Canada’s Mark Carney and Emmanuel Macron of France for criticism.
Faced with Washington’s intransigence, Greenland’s government is already putting in preparations for an invasion, though it’s still seen as an unlikely scenario. Canada’s military has meanwhile modelled how it would respond to an American invasion after Trump publicly talked about the country as a potential 51st state, according to a report in the Globe and Mail.
A request for comment on Trump’s latest remarks was not immediately returned by the Danish prime minister’s office or the foreign minister’s office.
Trump’s sales pitch occasionally veered off script. He claimed that the US had selflessly established military bases on Greenland in World War II, before acknowledging moments later it was in the country’s own self interest. He also repeatedly referred to Greenland as Iceland.
But the crux of Trump’s argument was that the US needed full control of the island because it was critical to the deployment of his “Golden Dome” missile defence system
“Greenland is a vast, almost entirely uninhabited and territory sitting undefended in a key strategic location between the US, Russia and China. That’s exactly where it is, right smack in the middle,” he said.
Trump argued it would be impractical to defend territory not under US control.
“Who the hell wants to defend a licence agreement or a lease?” Trump said, adding “you need the ownership to defend it.”
Trump cast the American acquisition of Greenland as essential to collective security and downplayed the danger it would pose to Nato.
“We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable,” Trump said. “But I won’t do that.”
He also cited US support for Ukraine as an example of what he saw as the unequal trans-Atlantic relationship, saying the burden should fall onto Europe for supporting Kyiv.
“The US is very far away. We have a big, beautiful ocean separating us. We have nothing to do with it,” Trump said.
European leaders in recent days have been discussing how to respond to Trump’s demands, including potential economic retaliation, but the US president has dismissed those threats, suggesting that allies have more to lose by opposing his agenda.
He also delivered a harsh warning to Europe, suggesting the continent’s liberal governments were falling behind the US and that leaders needed to emulate his model to provide for their citizens.
“I love Europe, and I want to see Europe go good, but it’s not heading in the right direction,” he said. BLOOMBERG
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