DAVOS, Switzerland: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (Jan 21) he would not use force to take control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Washington’s ally Denmark, but insisted the United States must still have “ownership” of it.
“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. Okay. Now everyone’s saying, Oh, good. That’s probably the biggest statement I made, because people thought I would use force,” he told world leaders in Davos.
“I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”
Trump said only the US was capable of securing Greenland, and the urgent need for negotiations had nothing to do with rare earths.
Delivering the keynote address at the World Economic Forum amid fraying transatlantic ties and his push to acquire Greenland, Trump said Europe is headed in the wrong direction.
“I love Europe and I want to see Europe go good, but it’s not heading in the right direction,” Trump said at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting.
Trump, who marked the end of a turbulent first year in office on Tuesday, is set to overshadow the agenda of the WEF, where global elites chew over economic and political trends.
In his speech, he repeatedly derided European allies and vowed that NATO should not stand in the way of US expansionism.
“What I’m asking for is a piece of ice, cold and poorly located,” Trump said.
“It’s a very small ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades. This enormous unsecured island is actually part of North America,” he added
“That’s our territory.”
NATO leaders have warned that Trump‘s Greenland strategy could upend the alliance, while the leaders of Denmark and Greenland have offered a wide array of ways for a greater US presence on the strategic island territory of 57,000 people.
