US President Donald Trump said on Friday that his administration will take action on Greenland “like it or not”, further ratcheting up the rhetoric in a bid for the United States to take control of the Danish territory.
“I would like to get a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
He made these statements during a meeting with oil directors where business opportunities in Venezuela were discussed. Less than seven days earlier, the US military invaded the oil-rich South American country and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.
Trump has been advocating the takeover of Greenland for a long time, primarily emphasizing the strategic importance of this Arctic island for the national security of the United States of America.
Denmark and its European allies within NATO, the military alliance founded by the United States of America, strongly rejected such ideas, repeating that Greenland is not for sale. Still, the Trump administration says it is currently considering a number of options, including the possibility of using the U.S. military or reaching an agreement to buy the territory from Denmark.
According to Reuters, US officials were also considering sending one-time cash payments to the inhabitants of Greenland to persuade them to join the United States. Asked how much those payments might be, Trump said: “I’m not talking about money for Greenland yet.”
“I could talk about it, but right now we’re going to do something about Greenland whether they like it or not,” Trump said. He added that, otherwise, Greenland could be taken over by Russia or China.
“If we don’t do that, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we will have Russia or China as a neighbor,” the US president said.
