President Trump continued to press the case for U.S. control of Greenland during remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, needling the assembled European leaders and boasting that America could take the Danish territory by force if he so chose, before ultimately ruling out that course of action.
Trump was talking about NATO spending when he said, "We never asked for anything, and we never got anything, 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.”
It was the first time Trump has ruled out the use of military options for taking Greenland, and in fact earlier this week he declined to comment when asked by NBC News whether he would use force to seize the country.
On Wednesday, he explained that he wants the U.S. to take ownership over the country “because you need the ownership to defend it, you can't defend it on a lease.”
“Who the hell wants to defend a license agreement or a lease?” he said.
“We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won’t give it. We’ve never asked for anything else, and we could have kept that piece of land, and we didn’t,” Trump said.
Greenland is a self-governing territory in the Kingdom of Denmark, which is a NATO ally. NATO rules state that an attack on one NATO country should be considered an attack on all.
Trump said in his speech that Europe has “a choice.”
“You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative, or you can say no, and we will remember a strong and secure America means a strong NATO, and that’s one reason why I’m working every day to ensure our military is very powerful,” he said.
NR's editors previously warned that the forced annexation of Greenland with military force "would risk shattering NATO entirely or leaving it a shadow of its former self."
"To gain an island that we already have considerable sway over at the cost of ‘losing’ Europe looks like a bad trade, militarily, economically, and geopolitically," the editors added.
Trump has upped the ante in his push for control over Greenland in recent weeks, threatening to impose tariffs on countries that are not "going along" with his plans. Eight NATO allies would be hit with 10 percent tariffs until a deal is struck, beginning on February 1, Trump said. The tariffs would rise to 25 percent on June 1 and remain at that level until "such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland," the president said.
Trump, in recent days, also blamed Greenland for his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize in a text message to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
"Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America," Trump said in the message.
Støre released a statement on Monday saying, “Norway's position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter.”
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