US President Donald Trump has said the United States would act on Greenland “whether they like it or not”, warning that he was prepared to “do it the hard way” if a deal could not be reached with Denmark over the Arctic territory.
Speaking at the White House on Friday, Mr Trump said he had to act or else “Russia or China will take over Greenland”, adding, “We’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbour. I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way.”
Flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and oil industry leaders, the president said he was not discussing money “yet” but “might talk about that”, reiterating that acquiring Greenland was a “national security priority of the United States”, comments that have drawn sharp warnings from European leaders, including Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who said any US military action would spell the end of NATO.