ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: President Donald Trump said on Sunday (Jan 11) that the United States would take Greenland “one way or the other”, warning that Russia and China would “take over” if Washington did not act.
Trump said that controlling the mineral-rich Danish territory was crucial for US national security, given the increased Russian and Chinese military activity in the Arctic.
“If we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will, and I’m not letting that happen,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, despite neither country laying claim to the vast island.
Trump said that he would be open to making a deal with the Danish self-governing territory, “but one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland”.
Denmark and other European allies have voiced shock at Trump’s threats over the island, which plays a strategic role between North America and the Arctic, and where the US has had a military base since World War II.
A Danish colony until 1953, Greenland gained home rule 26 years later and is contemplating eventually loosening its ties with Denmark.
The vast majority of its population and political parties have said that they do not want to be under US control and insisted that Greenlanders must decide their own future – a viewpoint continuously challenged by Trump.
“Greenland should make the deal, because Greenland does not want to see Russia or China take over,” Trump warned, as he mocked its defences.
“You know what their defence is, two dog sleds,” he said, while Russia and China have “destroyers and submarines all over the place”.
Denmark’s prime minister warned last week that any US move to take Greenland by force would destroy 80 years of transatlantic security links.
Trump waved off the comment, saying: “If it affects NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), it affects NATO. But you know, (Greenlanders) need us much more than we need them.”