Watch: Trump says Russia or China will occupy Greenland ‘if we don’t’

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States will do “something” about Greenland, “whether they want to or not.”

Watch Trump’s remarks in the video player above.

He made these statements during a meeting with oil sector executives at the White House.

He watches: Trump meets with oil executives to seek investments in Venezuela

The president said he would like to make a deal “the easy way” to acquire Greenland, because if the US doesn’t own it, he claimed, Russia or China will take it, and the US doesn’t want them as neighbors.

“If we don’t do it the easy way, we’ll do it the hard way,” Trump said, without clarifying what the “hard way” entails.

He also added that he “admired” Denmark but questioned the country’s claim to Greenland.

“I’m a big fan, but the fact that they have a boat that landed there 500 years ago doesn’t mean they own the land,” Trump said. “I’m sure we have a lot of boats going there too.”

Trump and his officials have long indicated they want to control Greenland to enhance American security and explore business and mining deals.

Read more: That’s why Trump says the US “needs” Greenland for Arctic security

The White House said military options were being studied. But the Danish Prime Minister warns that this would mean the end of NATO.

In addition, Trump said: “I fully support NATO. I saved NATO. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have NATO now.”

He added: “But we will not allow Russia or China to occupy Greenland. This is what will happen if we do not do that.”