'US will annex Greenland', says Trump as he warns Nato 'might have to get involved' in takeover
13 March 2025, 20:33 | Updated: 14 March 2025, 06:11
Donald Trump has vowed to annex Greenland, warning that Nato 'might have to get involved' in a US takeover.
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Speaking during a White House meeting with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte, Trump said the island was needed "for international security".
He said Mr Rutte could be "very instrumental” in making it possible, but the Nato leader was less keen to get involved in such a transaction.
"I think that will happen," said Trump.
"I didn't give it much thought before, but I'm sitting with a man who could be very instrumental.
"You know Mark, we need that for international security. We have a lot of our favourite players cruising around the coast and we have to be careful."
Mr Rutte responded saying: "When it comes to Greenland, joining or not joining the US, I would leave that outside... this discussion because I do not want to drag Nato into that."
It comes just a day after the country's incoming prime minister said: "We don't want to be Americans."
The centre-right party won an election on Wednesday, in a result considered to be a rejection of Trump's plot to take control of the island.
The Demokraatit party is in favour of gradually moving towards independence from Denmark.
Greenland, a self-governing territory of Denmark with a population of about 56,000 people, lies off the north-eastern coast of Canada, closer to Washington DC than to Copenhagen.
Trump previously made a direct appeal to Greenlanders in his speech to Congress.
"We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America," Trump said.
"We will keep you safe. We will make you rich. And together we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before," he added.
