Greenland is "not for sale," Denmark’s prime minister said Wednesday, vowing to defend the Danish territory after President Donald Trump again said the United States should control the Arctic island for NATO defense.
Denmark is "ready to defend every inch of NATO including our own territory," Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, adding she would call on NATO allies to honor their commitment to defend each other.
"We hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenland people's right for self-determination," she continued. "And we are sovereign states and we need everybody to respect our territorial integrity and our sovereignty.
"Greenland is of course not for sale."
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Trump continues to stress that Greenland "is very important" for the U.S. but not for Denmark, declaring, "We need it for protection of the world, not just the United States."
Also, Denmark is coming up short in its support for Greenland, which remains a strategic target for both Russia and China.
"That's what hurt my relationship with NATO," Trump said Tuesday of the refusal to grant his request for annexation of the strategic land.
"Denmark doesn't spend money to really help Greenland, but it's an important part for the United States. And it's surrounded by China ships and Russian ships."
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For global security, Greenland "should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark," Trump added.
"They wouldn't go along with it," Trump lamented. "And with all the money we spend to help them with Russia. And we don't have to spend any money, we could remove all of our soldiers out of Europe because, as you probably noticed, Europe is a very different place than it was 20 years ago. A lot different."
Greenland is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, a NATO ally. Trump’s push for U.S. control has repeatedly angered Danish and Greenlandic officials, who have insisted the island’s future should be decided by its people.
Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir also weighed in Wednesday, saying Greenland’s people "do not wish to be a part of the United States" and urging NATO leaders to stay focused on Russia.
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The dispute injected a tense territorial confrontation into a summit already shaped by Trump’s demands that allies spend more on defense and take greater responsibility for Europe’s security as the U.S. shifts its focus.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte sought to emphasize the alliance’s recent defense spending increases, telling Trump that European allies and Canada had made major new commitments.
"I would argue that without you in this chair, this would not have happened," Rutte told Trump. "Grab the win. It’s there."
Trump, however, continued criticizing allies over both Greenland and Iran, where he ordered overnight U.S. strikes after attacks on merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Rutte backed the U.S. strikes, telling Trump they were "absolutely necessary."
The NATO summit is also expected to address Ukraine’s war against Russia, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressing allies for deeper support and renewed consideration of Ukraine’s bid to join the alliance.
But Trump’s comments on Greenland underscored a growing challenge for NATO leaders: projecting unity against outside threats while managing disputes inside the alliance itself.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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