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Trump: No Greenland for US Unacceptable01/14 06:18
NUUK, Greenland (AP) -- President Donald Trump said Wednesday that anything
less than U.S. control of Greenland is unacceptable, hours before Vice
President JD Vance was to host Danish and Greenlandic officials for talks.
In a post on his social media site, Trump reiterated his argument that the
U.S. "needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security." He added that
"NATO should be leading the way for us to get it" and that otherwise Russia or
China would.
"NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands
of the UNITED STATES," Trump wrote. "Anything less than that is unacceptable."
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.
NUUK, Greenland (AP) -- Along the narrow, snow-covered main street in
Greenland's capital, international journalists and camera crews stop passersby
every few meters (feet) asking them for their thoughts on a crisis which
Denmark's prime minister has warned could potentially trigger the end of NATO.
Greenland is at the center of a geopolitical storm as U.S. President Donald
Trump is insisting he wants to own the island -- and the residents of its
capital Nuuk say it is not for sale. Trump said he wants to control Greenland
at any cost and the White House has not ruled out taking the island by force.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance will meet Denmark's foreign minister Lars Lokke
Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt in Washington on
Wednesday to discuss the Arctic island, which is a semiautonomous territory of
the United States' NATO ally Denmark.
Ahead of the meeting, France's foreign minister denounced what he described
as U.S. "blackmail" over Greenland in the latest sign of irritation among
America's allies.
Tuuta Mikaelsen, a 22-year-old student, told The Associated Press in Nuuk
that she hoped American officials would get the message to "back off."
Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told a news conference in
the Danish capital Copenhagen on Tuesday that, "if we have to choose between
the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO.
We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU."
Asked later Tuesday about Nielsen's comments, Trump replied: "I disagree
with him. I don't know who he is. I don't know anything about him. But, that's
going to be a big problem for him."
A strategically important territory
Greenland is strategically important because as climate change causes the
ice to melt, it opens up the possibility of shorter trade routes to Asia. That
also could make it easier to extract and transport untapped deposits of
critical minerals which are needed for computers and phones.
Trump also said he wants the island to expand America's security and has
cited what he says is the threat from Russian and Chinese ships as a reason to
control it.
But both experts and Greenlanders question that claim.
"The only Chinese I see is when I go to the fast food market," Lars Vintner,
a heating engineer told AP. He said he frequently goes sailing and hunting and
has never seen Russian or Chinese ships.
His friend, Hans Norgaard, agreed, adding "what has come out of the mouth of
Donald Trump about all these ships is just fantasy."
Denmark has said the U.S. -- which already has a military presence -- can
boost its bases on Greenland. For that reason, "security is just a cover,"
Vintner said, suggesting Trump actually wants to own the island to make money
from its untapped natural resources.
Norgaard told AP he filed a police complaint in Nuuk against Trump's
"aggressive" behavior because, he said, American officials are threatening the
people of Greenland and NATO. He suggested Trump was using the ships as a
pretext to further American expansion.
"Donald Trump would like to have Greenland, (Russian President Vladimir)
Putin would like Ukraine and (Chinese President) Xi Jinping would like to have
Taiwan," Norgaard said.
Mikaelsen, the student, said Greenlanders benefit from being part of
Denmark, which provides free health care, education and payments during study.
"I don't want the U.S. to take that away from us," she said.
Ahead of Wednesday's meeting, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland's minister for
business and mineral resources said it's "unfathomable" that the United States
is discussing taking over a NATO ally and urged the Trump administration to
listen to voices from the Arctic island's people.
More diplomatic efforts
Following the White House meeting, Lokke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt, along with
Denmark's ambassador to the U.S., are due to meet with senators from the Arctic
Caucus in the U.S. Congress. Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, is to
host the gathering.
It comes as two other lawmakers -- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire
Democrat, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican -- have introduced
bipartisan legislation that would prohibit the use of funds from the U.S.
Defense or State departments to annex or take control of Greenland or the
sovereign territory of any NATO member state without that ally's consent or
authorization from the North Atlantic Council.
A bipartisan delegation of lawmakers is also heading to Copenhagen at the
end of the week to meet with Danish and Greenlandic officials.
Last week, Denmark's major European allies joined Danish Prime Minister
Mette Frederiksen in issuing a statement declaring that Greenland belongs to
its people and that "it is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide
on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland."
On Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Nol Barrot told RTL radio that
his country plans to open a consulate in Greenland on Feb. 6. He said the
decision had been taken to open the diplomatic outpost when President Emmanuel
Macron visited last summer.
"Attacking another NATO member would make no sense; it would even be
contrary to the interests of the United States. And I'm hearing more and more
voices in the United States saying this," Barrot said. "So this blackmail must
obviously stop."
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