Topline
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Greenland was “not for sale” and that her country was “ready to defend every inch of NATO, including our own territory,” after President Donald Trump began renewing calls for the U.S. to acquire the self-governing territory at a contentious NATO summit taking place in Turkey.
The president also suggested the U.S. could pull troops out of Europe.
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Key Facts
“We hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenlandic peoples’ right to self determination,” Frederiksen said on Wednesday, shortly after Trump began demanding the territory should be controlled by the U.S.
Trump called the autonomous territory “a big problem for us,” and said the U.S. needed it “for protection of the world, not just the United States.”
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump said the island territory “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” insisting it was “surrounded” by Chinese and Russian ships—a claim he has previously made without providing evidence and was rejected by Nordic diplomats, the Financial Times reported in January.
In his own remarks on Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte conceded that Trump “absolutely has a point,” adding that “it’s China and Russia, gaining access to the Arctic” and an agreement previously reached in January would ensure NATO would “work together to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Trump also complained on Tuesday that Denmark “wouldn’t go along with” his plans for U.S. control over the territory and “all the money we spend to help them with Russia,” before suggesting he could pull American soldiers from bases in Europe.
The president also insisted “Europe’s a very different place than it was 20 years ago,” before telling the continent to “be careful” with its policies on immigration and energy, without going into further detail.
Crucial Quote
“That’s what hurt my relationship with NATO,” Trump said after a reporter asked him about the territory on Tuesday. “Greenland doesn’t help Denmark, Denmark doesn’t spend money to really help Greenland. But it’s an important part of the United States, and it is surrounded by China ships and Russian ships.” Greenland is a self-governing autonomous territory of Denmark. Both the Danish government and the Greenlandic government have repeatedly rejected Trump’s overtures to take over the territory, but that hasn’t stopped repeated threats. He finally ruled out using military force against a U.S. ally in his speech at the World Economic Forum in January, and has since sent Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry to the territory as a special envoy (he received a cold reception from Greenlanders). Trump announced an agreement was reached on the “framework of a future deal” for the territory in January, following a meeting with Rutte, but details of the agreement were vague and reportedly unclear to Danish officials. Rutte reminded Trump of this agreement while speaking beside him on Wednesday. “You and I made a deal in Davos,” the secretary general told the president, before insisting ““I will make sure that that deal is step-by-step being implemented.”
Tangent
Earlier during the meeting, Trump also toned down his criticisms of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who he recently attacked again on social media days before the NATO summit. But speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump downplayed the ongoing feud, saying “I think she’s a nice person, actually.” Trump still repeated criticism that Meloni “refused to help us” with the war in Iran and securing the Strait of Hormuz. “It soured my relationship with her a little bit, but I like her,” Trump said, later adding “she just wasn’t there for us, and I wasn’t happy about that.”
Key Background
Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO since returning to office, and in recent weeks the administration has telegraphed a possible troop drawdown in Europe. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new review of deployments on the continent in June, but didn’t confirm this would lead to troop reductions on the continent. The Pentagon pulled about 4,000 personnel from Poland and Germany in May, but quickly walked the drawdown back by deploying an additional 5,000 troops to Poland. When asked if there would be any further troop drawdowns in Europe, Trump said “we’re going to see,” before attacking member countries for not supporting the U.S.’ war against Iran. “I was very disappointed with NATO,” Trump said. “We weren’t treated well, because we did something in Iran. We didn’t need anybody’s help. I didn’t even want their help. But before I asked, they said they wouldn’t be there. And we’ve invested trillions of dollars in NATO,” Trump said. “You would think that they would be very willing to do something to help us,” he added.