Trump says US must control Greenland to counter Russia, China
On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested using force to seize Greenland, arguing that Washington needs to control the territory to prevent Russia or China from occupying it.
“We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not,” AFP quoted Trump as saying at a White House meeting with oil executives. “I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way,” News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, a US ally.
Trump said that controlling the mineral-rich Arctic island is crucial for the security of the US amid rising military activities of Russia and China in the region.
“We’re not going to have Russia or China occupy Greenland,” the US president was quoted as saying.
“That’s what they’re going to do if we don’t,” he claimed. “So we’re going to be doing something with Greenland, either the nice way or the more difficult way.”
Moscow and Beijing have made no territorial claim over Greenland.
Greenland has repeatedly said that it does not want to be part of the US, which already operates a military base on the island.
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.
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.
Trump said that he is a “fan of Denmark” and that Copenhagen had been “very nice” to him. “But you know, the fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago doesn’t mean that they own the land,” he added.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned on Monday that a US invasion of Greenland would end “everything”, referring to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Denmark and the US are members of the military alliance of 32 North American and European countries that promise to protect each other if any one of them is attacked.
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