President Trump insists on US acquisition of Greenland at Davos meeting
In his speech at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, the president advocated for Greenland to become a US territory.
President Donald Trump participated in a signing ceremony for the Peace Commission with world leaders in Switzerland on January 22, and said the peace commission could become “one of the most important institutions,” although it was not clear what specific functions the commission would have or under whose authority it would operate.
In his presentation, President Trump suggested a peace deal related to Russia’s war in Ukraine was “coming soon.” Ukrainian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s claims.
President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met in Davos.
The board was originally intended to help end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as well as oversee the rebuilding of the Palestinian enclave.
However, the leaked charter does not appear to mention this territory, suggesting that it may overlap in part with the role traditionally played by the United Nations and its various specialized agencies.
“We can do pretty much anything we want,” Trump said from the podium in Davos in the Swiss Alps, where he was attending the World Economic Forum.
President Trump said the council had “tremendous potential” and would work collaboratively with the United Nations.
The signing ceremony was attended by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Argentina, Indonesia, Qatar, and Kosovo. The only European leader to sit on the board was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. President Trump said Russian leader Vladimir Putin had accepted an invitation to attend the board meeting. The Russian government has not confirmed it.
President Trump concluded the event by talking about Gaza.
“I’m a real estate agent at heart, and it’s all about location. And I said, look at this place right on the ocean. Look at this beautiful property. Think about what this is going to be like for a lot of people.”
The signing ceremony in Davos came after President Trump announced at a mountain forum that he had negotiated a “framework for future agreements” that would eliminate armed seizure of territory in Greenland and the entire Arctic region.
President Trump has repeatedly said the United States needs to annex Greenland for national security reasons. He said the agreement meant lifting the threat of tariffs on European allies that opposed his designs on Danish territory.
