Trump doubles down on Greenland: ‘IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL’
President Donald Trump said anything less than U.S. control of Greenland is "unacceptable" ahead of a crucial meeting with Greenlandic and Danish officials Wednesday.
The president shared the message in a post on Truth Social .
"The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security. It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building," Trump wrote. "NATO should be leading the way for us to get it. IF WE DON'T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!"
"NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES," the president added. "Anything less than that is unacceptable."
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee member, said earlier this week that if Trump followed through on taking over Greenland, " it would be the end of NATO ."
Murphy said that if the U.S. tried to take Greenland, members of NATO, such as Denmark, would have to defend it. Such a scenario would pit the U.S. against its allies in the international military alliance.
Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt and her Danish counterpart, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, are expected to meet with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House on Wednesday, according to CNBC .
Trump's comments come after Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen held a press conference on Tuesday to discuss Trump's repeated takeover threats.
"If we have to choose between the USA and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO, the Kingdom of Denmark and the EU," Nielsen said, according to CNBC.
"It has not been easy to stand up to completely unacceptable pressure from our closest allies for a lifetime. But there is much to suggest that the hardest part is still ahead of us," Frederiksen said, according to CNBC.
Trump expressed renewed interest in controlling Greenland after the U.S. military strikes in Venezuela on Jan. 3 that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Several U.S. politicians in addition to Murphy have voiced their concern that Trump's efforts to obtain Greenland could have disastrous effects on relations with NATO, of which the U.S. and Denmark are both members.
"This is appalling. Greenland is a NATO ally. Denmark is one of our best friends… so the way we're treating them is really demeaning and it has no upside," U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said on CNN last Tuesday.
"This would be disastrous. It wouldn't just be America first, it wouldn't just be the end of NATO, it would be America alone," said U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-VA on CBS's Face the Nation .
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