President Trump demanded a U.S. takeover of Greenland Wednesday ahead of talks between Vice President J.D. Vance and officials from Denmark and the strategic Arctic territory.
Raising the diplomatic temperature, Trump said anything less than American control of the vast mineral-rich island would be “unacceptable” and said NATO should be backing his proposal.
“The United States needs Greenland,” Trump wrote on his social media site.
“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the United States,” he added. “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
The new salvo from Trump comes as Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were set to meet Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt in Washington later Wednesday
Greenland, a semi-autonomous overseas territory of NATO ally Denmark, has found itself at the center of an unlikely geopolitical storm as Trump repeatedly insists he wants the U.S. to take it over one way or another.
The White House hasn’t ruled out seizing the Arctic island by force, a move that Denmark says would trigger the collapse of the NATO alliance.
The potentially tense talks come a day after Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told a news conference in Copenhagen on Tuesday that the island’s 50,000 residents overwhelmingly oppose becoming part of the U.S., comments Trump dismissed.
Last week, Denmark’s major European allies joined Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in declaring that Greenland belongs to its people and that “it is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”
Greenland is strategically important because it serves as a maritime gateway between Europe and North America, a role that could become more critical as climate change melts ice-blocked trade routes and increases commerce at the top of the globe.
Trump says it’s crucial to his planned missile defense system and to thwart Russian and Chinese expansionism.
After meeting with Vance, the leaders plan to sit down with members of the congressional Arctic caucus.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing legislation that would prohibit the use of funds from the U.S. Defense or State departments to annex or take control of Greenland or the sovereign territory of any NATO member state without that ally’s consent.
