U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would not take over Greenland by force, but stuck firmly to his demands for control of the Danish territory during a speech in Davos and hinted at consequences if his ambitions were thwarted.
“People thought I would use force, but I don’t have to use force,” Trump said at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in the Swiss Alpine resort. “I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force,” he added, without mentioning his threat of tariffs.
Trump said he wanted immediate negotiations on a U.S. acquisition of Greenland, which is a Danish territory, and warned: “They have a choice. You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative, or you can so no, and we will remember.”
U.S. stocks staged a modest recovery after the sharpest equities selloff in three months, with the S&P 500 up about 1% after Wednesday’s remarks by Trump, who attributed the prior dip in markets to his comments on Greenland.
Rather than focusing on the economic message his aides had previewed, Trump delivered more than an hour of scolding and threats aimed at countries already unnerved by his push to seize territory from Denmark, which is a longtime U.S. NATO ally.
He chastised Europeans on issues ranging from wind power and the environment to immigration and geopolitics, while casting himself as a defender of Western values.
And while he took the threat of force off the table for Greenland, Trump bragged about U.S. military might, citing recent operations such as the shock ousting of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro earlier this month.
Calling Denmark “ungrateful,” the Republican U.S. president played down the territorial dispute as a “small ask” over a “piece of ice” and said an acquisition would be no threat to the NATO alliance, which includes Denmark and the United States.
“It’s clear from this speech that the president’s ambition is intact,” Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters in Copenhagen, adding: “In isolation it’s positive that the president says what he does regarding the military, but that does not make the problem go away”.
Trump said Greenland is crucial to the “Golden Dome” missile‑defense system and urged immediate negotiations.
“No nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States,” said Trump, who on four occasions mistakenly referred to Greenland as Iceland, another NATO member state.
Trump, who marked the end of a turbulent first year in office on Tuesday, is set to overshadow the agenda of the WEF, where global elites chew over economic and political trends.
NATO leaders have warned that Trump’s Greenland strategy could upend the alliance, while the leaders of Denmark and Greenland have offered a wide array of ways for a greater U.S. presence on the strategic island territory of 57,000 people.
His threat at the weekend to impose rising tariffs on eight European countries, including NATO allies, if they do not support his acquisition of the Arctic island has rattled politicians in Europe and jolted markets.
The European Parliament is suspending its work on the European Union’s trade deal with the United States in protest at Trump’s Greenland demands.
“We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won’t give it,” Trump said in his speech to a congress hall filled with what he called “so many friends, a few enemies.”
His remarks drew uncomfortable looks and light laughter from the audience in Davos, but most were silent.
Meanwhile, hundreds of delegates gathered in the lobby to listen to or watch Trump’s speech on video monitors or on mobile phones. After an hour, most had tuned out and resumed chatting.
Trump also used his speech to settle scores on other grievances. He rounded on Britain over extracting insufficient oil from the North Sea, Switzerland over its trade surplus in goods with the U.S., France over its pharmaceutical policy, Canada for what he saw as its ingratitude and NATO for its unwillingness to bend to U.S. interests.
His speech did notably less to address Trump’s top domestic political challenge, the low marks voters give his handling of cost-of-living issues. Trump was nearly an hour into the speech before he raised his newer initiatives to lower housing costs.
Several European policy-makers who were in the room declined to comment on Trump’s remarks.
However, Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch said: “In many ways not surprising. This once again proves the EU needs to toughen up, we need to hold the line.”
Meanwhile, Alastair Campbell, who was former British prime minister Tony Blair’s communications chief, said: “How embarrassing it all was.”
Reuters
