President Trump: Greenland should be managed by the US
President Trump criticized Denmark’s support and reiterated that the United States should take control of Greenland.
WASHINGTON – As the 2026 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit begins in Ankara on July 7, President Donald Trump reignited his calls for U.S. control of Greenland and threatened to expel U.S. soldiers from European countries over the issue.
President Trump reiterated his position that Greenland is critical to U.S. security during a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in January, after Trump’s push to acquire the semi-autonomous region from Denmark sparked a NATO crisis.
“That’s what hurt our relationship with NATO,” President Trump said in response to a reporter’s question about Greenland. “Because Greenland is not helping Denmark. Denmark is not really spending money to help Greenland, but Greenland is an important part of the United States, and Greenland is surrounded by Chinese ships and Russian ships, so that won’t happen.”
President Trump added of Greenland: “It should be managed by the United States, not Denmark.”
Trump brought NATO to the brink of destruction in January, but ultimately ruled out military action to acquire Greenland and backed off on threats to impose tariffs on European allies. Tensions eased after President Trump announced a “framework for future agreements” with NATO, Denmark and the Arctic region on security issues.
Trump’s Greenland negotiations subsided in the months that followed, but at the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump introduced a new threat to remove American troops from Europe, over the continent’s objections.
“With the money we’ve spent on aid to Russia, and we don’t have to spend any money, we could take all our soldiers out of Europe, because as you’re probably aware, Europe is a very different place and a lot different than it was 20 years ago.
“We better be careful about migration and energy. If we don’t take care of these two things, Europe will no longer exist,” he warned.
The United States has approximately 68,000 active-duty military personnel stationed in European countries. In May, the Trump administration announced the withdrawal of 5,000 US troops. It sent troops from Germany in apparent response to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s criticism of the US war on Iran.
Greenland is not for sale, Denmark replies
Speaking at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit hours after President Trump’s remarks, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she hoped allies would respect the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark and accept that Greenland is not for sale.
“It is a well-known position of the United States that it wants to own and take over Greenland. I hope it is equally well known everywhere that that will not happen,” Frederiksen said, adding that Denmark had no plans to discuss Arctic or Greenland issues in Ankara.
Greenland’s government has also repeatedly stated that the territory is not for sale. Greenland’s Foreign Minister Moute Egede said in a statement that Greenland’s future should be decided by its people. “That’s always been the case and always will be,” he said.
President Trump criticizes NATO again over Iran war
During his meeting with Erdogan, President Trump also criticized European NATO members for not supporting the U.S. war against Iran and providing military aid. A cease-fire exists between the two countries as the Trump administration seeks to reach an agreement with Iranian leaders to dismantle its nuclear program and highly enriched uranium.
“We didn’t need any help. In a way, I was testing people,” Trump said. And in a sense, I’m evaluating people. I was testing to see if they were there. Because we’ve said for a long time that we helped them, but we don’t know if they’ll be there for us. And Italy turned us down. And Germany rejected us. And France turned us down.
“That’s fine,” Trump said. “But why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars and they’re not there for us? We’re always there for them.”
Contributed by: Reuters
X Contact Joey Garrison at @joeygarrison.
