US President Donald Trump’s fixation with owning Greenland returned with a vengeance at the NATO summit as he launched into a series of broadsides against European allies for letting him down in Iran.
“I’m not happy with NATO because of what they did with Greenland, and I’m not happy with NATO because of the fact that they didn’t want to help us with the number one state sponsor of terror, that’s Iran,” Trump said Wednesday, sitting next to the alliance’s secretary general, Mark Rutte.
“Greenland is very important to the United States, but it’s not important to Denmark,” he continued, before shifting into an extended digression on World War II, when the US took control of the world’s biggest island after Denmark fell to the Nazis.
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“We took Greenland and then, stupidly, we gave it back,” he said. “We shouldn’t have given it back to them, because we’re the ones that need it. We need it for protection of the world, not just the United States. And it’s very important.”
Trump’s calls to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland sparked concern among the island’s 56,000 residents as well as in Denmark, which has been a close ally of the US for decades. The obsession appeared to peak at the World Economic Forum in Davos back in January, when he triggered panic among European allies that he was on the verge of launching a hostile takeover.
In the end, his rhetoric died down but it left Danish and European officials convinced that his intentions were serious. Trump then returned to the topic again shortly after arriving in Ankara.
“I heard the US president yesterday and I think the US position is unfortunately very clear on this topic and our position is very clear as it has been all through,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters in Ankara on Wednesday.
The Joint Arctic Command authority building, the headquarters for Denmark’s military operations in Greenland, center, and the US consulate, left, in Nuuk. Photographer: Carsten Snejbjerg/Bloomberg
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The overarching concern among European allies, according to one senior diplomat who was also in Ankara, is that Trump essentially views Europe as an adversary now and could choose to make Greenland the justification for a more serious confrontation.
“Greenland is a big problem for us,” Trump said. “The other big problem is the fact that when we wanted them, we didn’t want them badly, but we did say, ‘If you want to join us,’ and they all said no, but when they could have.”
“They weren’t there for us, and we’ve been there for them,” he added.
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