He said Greenland is needed for American security, adding that if he doesn’t do it, Russia or China will seize the arctic island.
By Catholics for Catholics
President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs to garner a worldwide nod to the US nabbing Greenland, despite Denmark refusing again this week to sell the globe’s largest island to the United States.
“I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So, I may do that,” Trump said at the White House on Friday, according to The Daily Wire.
The President made the comments after a meeting on Wednesday between Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.
Rasmussen said after the meeting that Denmark would not agree to giving up Greenland. Nevertheless, he said that the meeting was “frank and constructive,” but at the end of the day both sides agreed to disagree, with Denmark sticking firm to its “red lines.”
But on Friday, Trump said that he was negotiating with NATO on getting Greenland.
Trump:
— Clash Report (@clashreport) January 16, 2026
I may put a tariff on countries if they don't go along with Greenland because we need Greenland for national security.pic.twitter.com/HPIHJWaEUy
“NATO has been dealing with us on Greenland. We need Greenland for national security very badly. If we don’t have it, we have a hole in national security, especially when it comes to what we’re doing in terms of the Golden Dome and all of the other things,” he said.
If the United States did not acquire Greenland, the arctic land now under Danish control would fall under Russia or China, who have been having their eyes on the giant island for a while, Trump said.
“If we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will take Greenland, and I am not going to let that happen,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One. “I’d love to make a deal with them. It’s easier. But one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland.”
Trump said that Greenland is no match against Russia or China, two of the world’s powerhouses. He added that the island’s security is made up of “two dog sleds” while Russian and Chinese submarines and destroyers menacingly encircled the island.
However, Trump’s comments on Greenland have been opposed by Democrats and some Republicans. A delegation of senators, including Chris Coons (DE), Thom Tillis (NC), and Lisa Murkowski (AK), traveled to Denmark on Friday to back Denmark’s control of Greenland.
“The signals are clear,” Murkowski said. “I think you will find that support in Congress to acquire Greenland in any way is not there.”
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