Trump: Anything less than US control of Greenland is unacceptable

NUK, Greenland (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that NATO must help the United States get Greenland and anything less than putting the island in U.S. hands is unacceptable, hours before Vice President J.D. Vance hosted Danish and Greenlandic officials for talks.

In a post on his social media site, Trump repeated his argument that the United States “needs Greenland for the purpose of national security.” “NATO has to lead the way for us to get it,” he added, otherwise Russia or China will do it — “and that’s not going to happen!”

Read more: What to know about how NATO operates as Trump threatens to seize Greenland

“NATO becomes stronger and more effective with Greenland in US hands,” Trump wrote. “Anything less is unacceptable.”

Greenland, a semi-autonomous region of NATO ally Denmark, is at the center of a geopolitical storm with Trump insisting he wants to own it and residents of its capital, Nuuk, saying it is not for sale. The White House did not rule out seizing the Arctic island by force.

Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are scheduled to meet with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, in Washington later Wednesday to discuss the Greenland issue.

Greenlanders want the US to back down

Along Nuuk’s narrow, snow-covered main street, international journalists and camera crews stopped passers-by every few meters and asked them their thoughts on the crisis that Denmark’s prime minister warned could spell the end of NATO.

Teuta Michaelsen, a 22-year-old student, told The Associated Press in Nuuk that she hopes US officials understand the message of “step back.”

“If we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the European Union,” Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens Fredrik Nielsen said at a press conference in Copenhagen on Tuesday.

When asked later Tuesday about Nielsen’s comments, Trump responded: “I disagree with him. I don’t know who he is. I don’t know anything about him. But this would be a big problem for him.”

Greenland is of strategic importance because climate change is causing ice to melt, opening up the possibility of shorter trade routes to Asia. This could also make it easier to extract and transport untapped deposits of important minerals needed for computers and phones.

This week, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said “we will continue to strengthen our military presence in Greenland,” and stressed the consensus among NATO members that the alliance must take greater responsibility for security in the Arctic and North Atlantic.

Trump said in a blog post on Wednesday that Greenland is “vital” to the US “Gold Dome” missile defense program. He also said he wants the island to expand American security, and cited what he says is the threat posed by Russian and Chinese ships as a reason to take control of it.

But experts and Greenlanders dispute this claim.

“The only Chinese I see is when I go to a fast food market,” said Lars Wentner, a heating engineer. He said he often goes sailing and fishing and has never seen Russian or Chinese ships.

His friend Hans Norgaard agrees, adding, “What came out of Donald Trump’s mouth about all these ships is just fantasy.”

Denmark said the United States, which already has a military presence, could strengthen its bases in Greenland. For this reason, Vintner said, “security is just a cover,” suggesting that Trump actually wants to own the island to make money from its untapped natural resources.

Norgaard said he filed a complaint with police in Nuuk against Trump’s “aggressive” behavior because, he said, US officials were threatening the people of Greenland and NATO.

Student Mikaelsen said Greenlanders benefit from being part of Denmark, which provides free healthcare, education and payments while studying, and “I don’t want the United States to take that away from us.”

More diplomatic efforts

After the White House meeting, Løkke Rasmussen and Motsfeldt, along with Denmark’s ambassador to the United States, are scheduled to meet with senators from the Arctic bloc in the US Congress.

Two lawmakers — Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska — have introduced bipartisan legislation that would prohibit the use of Defense Department or State Department funds to annex or control Greenland or the sovereign territory of any NATO member state without that ally’s consent or authorization from the North Atlantic Council.

A bipartisan delegation of lawmakers is also heading to Copenhagen later this week to meet with Danish and Greenland officials.

Last week, Denmark’s main European allies joined Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in issuing a statement declaring that Greenland belongs to its people, and that “matters relating to Denmark and Greenland are decided by Denmark and Greenland, and for them alone.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told RTL Radio on Wednesday that his country plans to open a consulate in Greenland on February 6, after the decision last summer to open the diplomatic headquarters.

“Attacking another NATO member would make no sense, and would even be contrary to the interests of the United States,” Barrow said. “And I hear more and more voices in the United States saying that.” “So it is clear that this extortion must stop.”

Geir Moulson in Berlin, Lisa Mascaro in Washington, and Catherine Jaschka in Paris contributed to this report.