Washington: US President Donald Trump has said the United States should reopen negotiations with Denmark to acquire Greenland, arguing that the vast Arctic territory is a “core national security interest” and can only be protected by Washington amid rising global military threats.
“No nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland, other than the United States,” Trump said, asserting that the island occupies a critical strategic position “right smack in the middle” between the US, Russia, and China.
Referring to World War II during his address at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Trump recalled that Denmark was unable to defend either itself or Greenland after falling to Nazi Germany. “The United States was then compelled… to send our own forces to hold the Greenland territory,” he said, adding that American troops protected the island “at great cost and expense” to prevent enemy forces from gaining a foothold in the Western Hemisphere.
Trump said the US later returned Greenland to Denmark after the war, a move he questioned sharply. “After the war, which we won… we gave Greenland back to Denmark. How stupid were we to do that?” he said, while also accusing Denmark of ingratitude despite American wartime sacrifices.
Arguing that the security environment has fundamentally changed, Trump warned that modern warfare now involves missiles, nuclear weapons, and advanced systems that were not present decades ago. “Our country and the world face much greater risks than it did ever before,” he said, citing recent conflicts as evidence of rapidly evolving military capabilities.
Trump dismissed claims that Greenland’s value lies in rare earth resources, saying, “That’s not the reason we need it.” Instead, he stressed that the island’s importance is rooted in “strategic national security and international security.”
“This enormous unsecured island is actually part of North America, on the northern frontier of the Western Hemisphere,” Trump said. “That’s our territory. It is therefore a core national security interest of the United States of America.”
He said it has long been US policy to prevent outside powers from entering the hemisphere, adding that American Presidents have sought to purchase Greenland “for nearly two centuries.”
Trump criticised Denmark for failing to honour its defence commitments. He noted that Copenhagen had pledged in 2019 to spend over $200 million to strengthen Greenland’s defences but “spent less than 1 per cent of that amount.”
“It’s the United States alone that can protect this giant mass of land, this giant piece of ice,” Trump said, arguing that American ownership would benefit both Europe and NATO.
He rejected concerns that acquiring Greenland would threaten the NATO alliance. “This would not be a threat to NATO. This would greatly enhance the security of the entire Alliance,” he said.
Trump said the US needs “right title and ownership” of Greenland to defend it effectively. “You can’t defend it on a lease,” he said, calling ownership necessary both legally and psychologically.
“All the United States is asking for… is this land,” Trump said, describing it as a “very small ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades.”
(IANS)
