The White House said Tuesday that the US military could seize Greenland — after President Trump again expressed interest in acquiring the Danish-ruled island.
“President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement first reported by Reuters.
“The President and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal.”
The issue resurfaced in the aftermath of the successful Trump-ordered military raid on Venezuela Saturday that captured socialist strongman Nicolas Maduro.
Katie Miller, a former Trump administration official and the wife of deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, tweeted a map of Greenland covered with the US flag shortly after the raid Saturday — drawing outrage from Copenhagen the semi-autonomous leaders of the world’s largest island.
Trump said Sunday: “We’ll worry about Greenland in about two months. Let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days.”
“Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security. And Denmark is not gonna be able to do it, I can tell you. You know what Denmark did recently to boost up security in Greenland? They added one more dog sled.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Monday that a US military takeover would end the NATO alliance.
