United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that the US would not use force to take control of Greenland, but reiterated his demand that Washington be given “ownership” of the Danish territory.
“We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable, but I won’t do that,” Trump said at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. “Now everyone’s saying, oh, good. That’s probably the biggest statement I made, because people thought I would use force.”
He added: “I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”
Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, a US ally.
The US president said that he was seeking “immediate negotiations” to discuss the acquisition of Greenland.
“This would greatly enhance the security of the NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] alliance,” he said. “The US is treated very unfairly by NATO. We give so much and we get so little in return.”
The US and Denmark are among 32 North American and European countries, which form the military alliance, who promise to protect each other if any one of them is attacked.
Trump has repeatedly raised the idea of acquiring Greenland from Denmark. He first floated the idea in 2019 during his first term as the president. Greenland has maintained that it does not want to be part of the US, which already operates a military base on the island.
In recent weeks, Trump has been claiming that Washington needed control of the Arctic island for “national security”, to prevent Russia or China from occupying it.
Moscow and Beijing have made no territorial claim over Greenland.
On January 9, Trump said that the US could use force to seize Greenland.
On Friday, Trump indicated that he could punish countries with tariffs if they do not support Washington controlling Greenland.
The fresh focus on Greenland came after the US’ military operation in Venezuela. On January 3, the US military abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, for alleged drug trafficking.
While Greenland is self-governed, it relies on the Danish government for defence and foreign policy.
Earlier this month, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that a US invasion of Greenland would end “everything”, referring to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Leaders from major European countries and Canada have rallied behind the Arctic territory, saying that Greenland “belongs to its people”.
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