President Donald Trump addressed the strategic importance of Greenland in his speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. First he expressed his “tremendous respect for both the people of Greenland and the people of Denmark,” but noted that “no nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States.”
During World War II, Denmark fell to Germany after just six hours of fighting and was totally unable to defend either itself or Greenland. So, the United States was then compelled to hold the Greenland territory. “We literally set up bases on Greenland for Denmark. . . .[W]e saved Greenland and successfully prevented our enemies from gaining a foothold in our hemisphere.”
Now, the United States and the world “face much greater risks” than ever before because of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.
Greenland is a vast, almost entirely uninhabited and undeveloped territory sitting undefended in a key strategic location between the United States, Russia, and China. And while Greenland has rare earth minerals, “That’s not the reason we need it,” said President Trump. “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. That’s our territory. It is, therefore, a core national security interest of the United States of America. And in fact, it’s been our policy for hundreds of years to prevent outside threats from entering our hemisphere. And we’ve done it very successfully. We’ve never been stronger than we are now.”
“That’s why American presidents have sought to purchase Greenland for nearly two centuries,” noted President Trump.
In 2019, Denmark said that they would spend over $200 million to strengthen Greenland’s defenses. But they spent less than 1 percent of that amount, said President Trump. “It’s the United States alone that can protect this giant mass of land,” he added. “And that’s the reason I’m seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States.”
“But this would not be a threat to NATO,” promised President Trump. “This would greatly enhance the security of the entire alliance.” President Trump also assured the world he is seeking a peaceful acquisition. “I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”
“All we’re asking for is to get Greenland, including right title and ownership, because you need the ownership to defend it. You can’t defend it on a lease. Number one, legally, it’s not defensible that way. Totally. And number two, psychologically, who the hell wants to defend a license agreement or a lease, which is a large piece of ice in the middle of the ocean where, if there is a war, much of the action will take place on that piece of ice.”
“All we want from Denmark for national and international security and to keep our very energetic and dangerous potential enemies at bay is this land on which we’re going to build the greatest [missile defense system known as] Golden Dome.”
President Donald Trump addressed the strategic importance of Greenland in his speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.