President Donald Trump has renewed his threat of using military force to annex Greenland, saying in an NBC News interview he wouldn’t rule it out to make the self-governing Danish territory a part of the United States.
It’s the latest in Trump’s many comments about seizing control of the resource-rich island, which he insists the US needs for national security purposes.
“I don’t rule it out,” he told NBC News’ Kristen Welker in an interview that aired on Sunday. “I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything.”
“We need Greenland very badly,” Trump said. “Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.”
He added that he doubted it would happen – but that the possibility is “certainly” there.
Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in buying the island, or the US taking it by force or economic coercion, even as NATO ally Denmark and Greenland have firmly rejected the idea.
There are a few factors driving that interest; Greenland occupies a unique geopolitical position, sitting between the US and Europe, which could help repel any potential attack from Russia, experts have said. It also lies along a key shipping lane, and is part of the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap, a strategic maritime region.
But experts also suspect Trump is eyeing other aspects of Greenland such as its trove of natural resources, which may become more accessible as climate change melts the territory’s ice. These include oil and gas, and the rare earth metals in high demand for electric cars, wind turbines and military equipment.
Since Trump began voicing plans for his presidency in December, his desire to annex Greenland has raised questions about the island’s future security as the US, Russia and China vie for influence in the Arctic.
But Greenland has pushed back strongly.
“President Trump says that the United States ‘will get Greenland.’ Let me be clear: The United States will not get it. We do not belong to anyone else. We decide our own future,” the island’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in March after Trump again suggested the use of military force.
Greenland’s not the only sovereign territory Trump has his sights on; the president has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada and make it the US’ “51st state,” souring relations between the two longtime allies.
Last week, Canada’s Liberal Party swept to victory in federal elections, with Prime Minister Mark Carney riding on a wave of anti-Trump sentiment and using his victory speech to declare Canada would “never” yield to the United States.
During the NBC interview on Sunday, Trump said it was “highly unlikely” he’d use military force to annex Canada.
“I don’t see it with Canada. I just don’t see it, I have to be honest with you,” he said.
He added that he’d talked on the phone with Carney after his election win, calling the Canadian leader a “very nice man.” Trump had congratulated Carney, but they did not discuss the threat of annexation of Canada, he said.
Carney is set to visit Trump in Washington on Tuesday. When asked whether the topic would come up during that visit, Trump responded: “I’ll always talk about that.”
If Canada was a state, “it would be great,” Trump added. “It would be a cherished state.”