President Donald Trump downplayed the prospect of using military force over Greenland as he made his pitch to the world as to why the U.S. should have the Danish territory.
Trump’s escalating rhetoric regarding Greenland has rattled the world, particularly after his unprecedented capture earlier this month of former Venezuela dictator Nicolas Maduro.
But during his appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, Trump told the crowd he “won’t use force” over Greenland, instead demanding “immediate negotiations” for it.
“We probably won’t get anything, unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be frankly unstoppable,” he said. “People thought I would use force. I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland.”
At the same time, Trump reminded the world that the U.S. was “a powerful force then, but we are a much more powerful force now.”
“I have tremendous respect for both the people of Greenland and the people of Denmark, tremendous respect,” he said. “But every NATO ally has an obligation to be able to defend their own territory. And the fact is, no nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States. We’re a great power, much greater than people even understand. I think they found that out two weeks ago in Venezuela.”
Trump provided the most detail yet regarding his argument as to why the U.S. should have Greenland, which he described both as “our territory” and mistakenly as Iceland on multiple occasions.
“Greenland is a vast, almost entirely uninhabited and undeveloped territory sitting undefended in a key strategic location between the United States, Russia, and China,” the president said. “We need it for strategic national security and international security. This enormous unsecured island is actually part of North America, on the northern frontier of the Western Hemisphere.”
He added: “We already had it as a trustee, but respectfully returned it back to Denmark not long ago after we defeated the Germans, the Japanese, the Italians, and others in World War II. We gave it back to them.”
Trump also used the platform to criticize NATO as a “one-way street,” complaining “other presidents have spent, whether foolishly or not, trillions and trillions of dollars on NATO and got absolutely nothing in return.”
“All we’re asking for is to get Greenland, including right title and ownership, because you need the ownership to defend it,” the president said. “You can’t defend it on a lease. No. 1, legally, it’s not defensible that way, totally. And No. 2, psychologically, who the hell wants to defend a license agreement or a lease?”
He continued: “So they have a choice. You can say ‘yes’ and we will be very appreciative, or you can say ‘no’ and we will remember.”
Regardless of his demands, Trump remained adamant that, more broadly, he wanted the best for Europe, referring to common interests concerning energy, trade, immigration and economic growth, but reiterated the U.S. sought “strong allies, not seriously weakened ones.”
“Certain places in Europe are not even recognizable, frankly, anymore. They’re not recognizable. And we can argue about it, but there’s no argument,” he said. “I love Europe and I want to see Europe go good, but it’s not heading in the right direction.”
‘When it goes bad, it goes bad’
To that end, Trump promoted the U.S. as “the economic engine on the planet,” contending “when America booms, the entire world booms.”
“When it goes bad, it goes bad,” he said. “You all follow us down, and you follow us up.”
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles previewed to reporters traveling with Trump to Davos that the president’s address would underscore his America First philosophy, including his economic accomplishments, in addition to Greenland and Venezuela.
True to her word, Trump told Davos, one day after the first anniversary of his return to power, that he had come to the Swiss Alps town “with truly phenomenal news from America.”
“Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of my inauguration, and today, after 12 months back in the White House, our economy is booming,” he said. “Growth is exploding. Productivity is surging. Investment is soaring. Incomes are rising. Inflation has been defeated… People are doing very well. They’re very happy with me.”
Much of the economic part of Trump’s address emphasized energy policies, with the president at one point dismissing wind mills as “losers” and criticizing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for underutilizing the United Kingdom’s natural resources in the North Sea.
Trump, too, took the opportunity during his speech to respond to the likes of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and French Emmanuel Macron’s own remarks at Davos.
“Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way,” the president said. “I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn’t so grateful. They should be grateful to us, Canada. Canada lives because of the United States remember that Mark the next time you make your statements.”
Of Macron’s appearance with aviator sunglasses as he recovers from burst blood vessel in his eye, he went on: “I watched him yesterday with those beautiful sunglasses. What the hell happened?”
Returning to his economic message, Trump similarly used his address to publicize his proposed prohibition on institutional investors from buying single-family homes as he tries to counter criticisms regarding affordability before this year’s midterm elections.
The president implored Congress to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for one year as well.
Prior to his arrival in Davos, Hudson Institute adjunct fellow Paul Sracic told the Washington Examiner “there will be a nervousness among the attendees at Davos” because of Greenland.
That “nervousness” was demonstrated on Wednesday with a timid reception to Trump’s address, though it was at times interrupted by nervous laughter.
“It’s great to be back in beautiful Davos, Switzerland, and to address so many respected business leaders, so many friends, a few enemies, and all of the distinguished guests,” he said at the start.
Besides his address, which was followed by a couple of friendly questions from a moderator, Trump had bilateral meetings with the leaders of Switzerland, Egypt, Poland, and Belgium before a reception with business counterparts and sit down with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte later Wednesday.
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On Thursday Trump is expected to meet with Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky before an event for his Board of Peace, formed as part of his peace deal between Israel and Hamas but whose mission has since expanded to cause concerns it could undermine the United Nations.
