US President Donald Trump ratcheted up his rhetoric on Greenland in his speech at the Davos World Economic Forum on Wednesday. Calling for an “immediate negotiations on the acquisition of Greenland”, Trump said: “Say no and we will remember”.
At the same time, he sought to downplay the issue, calling Greenland a “piece of ice”, and framing the US desire for control as essential for “world protection”.
“We want a piece of ice for world protection… We’ve never asked for anything else—and we could have kept that piece of land, and we didn’t. So, they have a choice. You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no, and we will remember,” he said.
Europe feels the heat
After tearing into Europe and saying it is “not heading in the right direction”, Trump turned his focus towards Greenland and his effort to take control of the territory.
After talking about his one year in the highest office in the US, the recent military operation in Venezuela — in which the then President of the country, Nicolas Maduro, was captured and brought to America — and criticising former US president Joe Biden, Trump asked the audience members: “Would you like to me to speak a few words on Greenland? I was going to leave it out of the speech…But I think I would have been reviewed very negatively.”
‘Every NATO ally has obligation to defend territory’
He said: “I have great respect for both the people of Greenland and the people of Denmark. But every NATO ally has an obligation to be able to defend their own territory. And the fact is no nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States”
“We are great power, greater than people even understand. I think they found that out 2 weeks ago in Venezuela”.
“We saw this in World War II when Denmark fell to Germany after just six hours of fighting and was totally unable to defend either itself or Greenland. So the United States was then compelled, we felt an obligation to do it. To send our own forces to hold the Greenland territory and hold it we did at great cost and expense. They didn’t have a chance. Denmark knows that. We literally set up bases on Greenland for Denmark,” he said.
US Prez demands immediate negotiations
“It’s the United States alone that can protect this giant mass of land…That’s the reason I am seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland…This would not be a threat to NATO—this would greatly enhance the security of the entire alliance,” Trump said.
Greenland core security interest of US: Trump
Trump called Greenland a “vast, almost entirely uninhabited and undeveloped territory” that “is sitting undefended in a key strategic location between the US, Russia, and China”.
“This enormous unsecured island is actually part of North America — on the northern frontier of the Western Hemisphere. It is a core national security interest of the U.S. — and in fact, has been our policy for hundreds of years to prevent outside threats from entering our hemisphere,” Trump said.
Plan for Golden Dome
The US President has previously spoken about his plans to build a missile defence system that Trump calls Golden Dome.
“All we want from Denmark, for national and international security, and to keep our very energetic and dangerous potential enemies at bay, is this land on which we’re going to build the greatest Golden Dome ever built,” he said.
Trump rules out use of force
Trump had previously said that the US could deploy its military to take control of Greenland. In his speech right up to this moment, Trump had also spoken in glowing terms about the strength of the US military. On Wednesday, he said if he decides to use “excessive strength and force,” the country would be “frankly unstoppable”. “But I won’t do that,” he said.
“We never ask for anything, and we never got anything. We probably won’t get anything, unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be frankly unstoppable—but I won’t do that… All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland, where we already had it, as trustee, but respectfully returned it back to Denmark not long ago, after we defeated the Germans, the Japanese, the Italians, and others in WW2,” the Republican leader said.
US President Donald Trump addresses the audience during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo)
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