The United States should acquire Greenland for “international security,” U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated Monday, alluding to threats from Russia and China.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office as he signed a flurry of executive orders on his first day as president, Trump said Denmark was unable to “keep” Greenland, a self-ruling Danish territory.
“Greenland is a wonderful place. We need it for international security. And I’m sure that Denmark will come along — it’s costing them a lot of money to maintain it, to keep it,” the Republican leader said.
“Greenland is necessary not for us, it’s necessary for international security,” he added. “You have Russian boats all over the place, you have China’s boats all over the place — warships — and they [Denmark] can’t maintain it.”
Trump has repeatedly said that the U.S. should take control of Greenland, calling an American acquisition of the vast Arctic island an “absolute necessity” and refusing to rule out using military force.
His comments triggered crisis meetings in Copenhagen and a sharp rebuke from Danish and Greenlandic leaders, who said the island is not up for grabs.
As global powers seek to expand their reach and footprint in the Arctic, mineral-rich Greenland — which hosts a U.S. military base — is coveted for its security and trade importance.
Trump did not mention Greenland in his inauguration speech despite vowing to take back the Panama Canal, another current fixation.
In the Oval Office on Monday, he also referred to his eldest son Donald Trump Jr.’s visit to the island earlier this month, which one Greenlandic lawmaker slammed as “staged.”
“The people of Greenland are not happy with Denmark, you know, I think they’re happy with us,” Trump said. “We had representatives — my son and representatives went up there two weeks ago, and they like us. So we’ll see what happens.”
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