US President Donald Trump has renewed his demand for Washington to take control of Greenland, reopening a dispute that strained relations with NATO allies earlier this year.
He made the remarks on July 7 shortly after arriving in Ankara, Turkey, for a two-day NATO summit, during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Trump said the Danish autonomous territory “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark”, arguing that Copenhagen had failed to invest properly in its security.
He claimed the Arctic island was surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships and described it as strategically vital to American interests.
Trump acknowledged that his earlier push for Greenland, which had included a refusal to rule out military force, damaged Washington’s ties with the alliance. He said the dispute had hurt his relationship with NATO.
The US President went further by linking the issue to America’s military presence in Europe, suggesting Washington could withdraw its troops from the continent.
He said the United States spent heavily to help defend European allies against Russia and no longer needed to do so.
Both the Danish and Greenlandic governments quickly rejected the remarks.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in Turkey that there were no plans to discuss Greenland at the summit, insisting the territory was not for sale. She said Washington’s ambition to take over the island was “not going to happen”.
Greenland’s Foreign Minister Múte Egede wrote on Facebook that the territory’s future should be decided by its people. “That’s how it has always been,” he said.
Trump had refused to rule out using force to seize Greenland ahead of the World Economic Forum in January, before appearing to soften his position in Davos, Switzerland.
There he said he and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had agreed on the framework of a future deal over the territory, though the details remained vague.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a congressional hearing in June that talks with Denmark and Greenland were continuing and were “in a good place”.
The renewed row overshadowed the opening of the summit, where European and Canadian allies pledged around €50 billion in fresh defence investment.
