“He meant to say Greenland,” the secretary of state told lawmakers, contradicting the White House. “But I think we’re all familiar with presidents who stumble over their words.”
What does the Greenland Defense Agreement actually contain?
President Trump has said the United States needs more control over Greenland. However, a 1951 treaty already allows extensive military access.
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that his boss confused Iceland and Greenland in a high-profile speech to world leaders last week, contrary to the president’s chief press secretary’s denials.
Rubio acknowledged during a Jan. 28 Congressional hearing that President Donald Trump confused the two island nations while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The exchange was notable given rising tensions between the NATO allies as the United States threatens to acquire Denmark’s resource-rich island territory of Greenland. In contrast, Iceland is a much smaller independent country approximately 320 miles apart.
“I can tell you, in Iceland, they’re not here for us,” Trump said, referring to other NATO members in his speech. “So it’s Iceland’s fault that our stock market was the first to fall yesterday. So Iceland is already paying a lot of money.”
He later said, “I’m helping Europe. I’m helping NATO. And when I talk about Iceland until the last few days, they love me.”
Immediately after President Trump’s remarks, press secretary Caroline Levitt insisted there was no mistake.
“His written statement referred to Greenland as a ‘piece of ice’ because that’s what it is,” Levitt wrote on social media.
Mr. Rubio’s comments challenged Mr. Levitt. The former Florida senator told Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) that President Trump did indeed “want to say Greenland.”
Although he ignored the mistake, he clearly disparaged former President Joe Biden, who was also prone to gaffes.
“I think we’re all familiar with presidents who stumble over their words,” Rubio said. “We’ve had presidents like this before. We’ve had presidents who have made much more money than this one.”
Zachary Schermele is a Congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can email us at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and on Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social..
