Trump renews threat of military force to annex Greenland
President Donald Trump has renewed his threat of using military force to annex Greenland, saying in an NBC News interview he wouldnât rule it out to make the self-governing Danish territory a part of the United States.
Video above: Greenlanders vote in parliamentary elections
Itâs the latest in Trumpâs many comments about seizing control of the resource-rich island, which he insists the U.S. needs for national security purposes.
he told NBC Newsâ Kristen Welker in an interview that aired on Sunday. âI donât say Iâm going to do it, but I donât rule out anything.â
âWe need Greenland very badly,â Trump said. âGreenland is a very small amount of people, which weâll take care of, and weâll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.â
He added that he doubted it would happen â but that the possibility is âcertainlyâ there.
Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in buying the island, or the U.S. taking it by force or economic coercion, even as NATO ally Denmark and Greenland have firmly rejected the idea.
There are a few factors driving that interest; Greenland occupies a unique geopolitical position, sitting between the US and Europe, which could help repel any potential attack from Russia, experts have said. It also lies along a key shipping lane, and is part of the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap, a .
But experts also suspect Trump is eyeing other aspects of Greenland such as its trove of natural resources, which may become more accessible as climate change melts the territoryâs ice. These include oil and gas, and the rare earth metals in high demand for electric cars, wind turbines and military equipment.
Since Trump began voicing plans for his presidency in December, his desire to annex Greenland has raised questions about the islandâs future security as the U.S., Russia and China vie for influence in the Arctic.
But Greenland has pushed back strongly.
âPresident Trump says that the United States âwill get Greenland.â Let me be clear: The United States will not get it. We do not belong to anyone else. We decide our own future,â the islandâs Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in March after Trump again suggested the use of military force.
Greenlandâs not the only sovereign territory Trump has his sights on; the president has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada and make it the U.S.â â51st state,â souring relations between the two longtime allies.
Last week, Canadaâs Liberal Party swept to victory in federal elections, with Prime Minister Mark Carney riding on a wave of anti-Trump sentiment and using his victory speech to declare Canada would âneverâ yield to the United States.
During the NBC interview on Sunday, Trump said it was âhighly unlikelyâ heâd use military force to annex Canada.
âI donât see it with Canada. I just donât see it, I have to be honest with you,â he said.
He added that heâd talked on the phone with Carney after his election win, calling the Canadian leader a âvery nice man.â Trump had congratulated Carney, but they did not discuss the threat of annexation of Canada, he said.
Carney is set to visit Trump in Washington on Tuesday. When asked whether the topic would come up during that visit, Trump responded: âIâll always talk about that.â
If Canada was a state, âit would be great,â Trump added. âIt would be a cherished state.â