(AFP) – US President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday the US needs to take control of Greenland, with NATO’s support, just hours before crunch talks about the Arctic island with top Danish, Greenlandic, and US officials. Just hours before the meeting with US Vice President JD Vance was due to start, Trump said that US control of Greenland — an autonomous territory belonging to NATO ally Denmark — was “vital” for his planned Golden Dome air and missile defense system.
“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES. Anything less than that is unacceptable,” he wrote on social media. He said NATO “should be leading the way” in building the multi-layer missile defense system. “IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!” Trump wrote.
Just prior, Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen had sought to ease US concerns about security in Greenland, telling AFP Denmark was boosting its military presence there and was in talks with allies on “an increased NATO presence in the Arctic.” Trump has repeatedly threatened to take over the vast, strategic, and sparsely populated Arctic island, and he has sounded emboldened since ordering a deadly January 3 attack in Venezuela that removed its president.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart were to hold talks later Wednesday in Washington with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance. Lokke said he was hoping to “clear up certain misunderstandings.” But it remains to be seen if the Trump administration also sees a misunderstanding and if it wants to climb down.
Trump, when asked Tuesday about Greenland’s leader saying that the island prefers to remain part of Denmark, said: “Well that’s their problem.” “Don’t know anything about him, but that’s going to be a big problem for him,” Trump said. Trump said on Friday that he wanted Greenland “whether they like it or not” and “if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way.” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an attack on a NATO ally would end the alliance.
While an agreement with Denmark allows the United States to station as many soldiers as it wants on Greenland, Trump has doubled down on US ownership, telling reporters on Sunday that “we’re talking about acquiring not leasing.” The former real estate developer told The New York Times that ownership “is psychologically needed for success” and “gives you things and elements that you can’t get from just signing a document.”
Trump maintains the United States needs Greenland due to the threat of a takeover by Russia or China. The two rival powers have both stepped up activity in the Arctic, where ice is melting due to climate change, but neither claims Greenland, which is home to 57,000 people.
Vance, who slammed Denmark as a “bad ally” during a visit to Greenland last year, is known for his hard edge, which was on display when he publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a White House meeting in February. It has not been announced if the Greenland meeting will be open to the press. “If the US continues with, ‘We have to have Greenland at all cost,’ it could be a very short meeting,” said Penny Naas, a senior vice president at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a Washington think tank. “If there is a slight nuance to it, it could lead to a different conversation,” she said.
Greenland’s government and Denmark have been firmly against Trump’s designs. “One thing must be clear to everyone: Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed by the United States. Greenland does not want to be part of the United States,” Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said ahead of the Washington talks. The Danish prime minister said it had not been easy to stand up to “completely unacceptable pressure from our closest ally.”
Copenhagen has rejected US claims that it is not protecting Greenland from Russia and China, pointing out that it has invested almost 90 billion kroner ($14 billion) to beef up its military presence in the Arctic. Denmark is a founding member of NATO, and its military joined the United States in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the latter to much criticism. Shortly after the White House talks, a senior delegation from the US Congress — mostly Democrats, but with one Republican — will visit Copenhagen to offer solidarity.
– Shaun Tandon with Camille Bas-Wohlert in Copenhagen.
© 2024 AFP
