The US must control Greenland for national security interests, because this island is very important for building the planned Golden Dome missile defense system, US President Donald Trump said.
Mr. Trump's statements about Greenland have escalated in recent weeks, with the US President increasingly determined to seize this territory from Denmark at all costs, while hinting at the possibility of using force to annex the island.
Mr. Trump gave a new reasoning on January 14, arguing that controlling Greenland is necessary for his Golden Dome missile defense shield plan to become a reality.
The US needs Greenland for national security purposes. It is very important for the Golden Dome that we are building. NATO should lead us to get it," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Mr. Trump announced the Golden Dome initiative earlier last year. The system is expected to include components placed in space and preemptive strike options, with an estimated cost of over 542 billion USD in 2 decades.
Mr. Trump declared that NATO would become "much stronger and more effective if Greenland were in the hands of the US", adding that without the US, the bloc "will not be an effective or deterrent force".
The US President also reiterated his statement that if the US does not occupy Greenland, Russia and China will - something that both Moscow and Beijing, as well as regional officials, reject.
Mr. Trump launched a plan to annex Greenland right from the beginning of his second term and continued to promote the acquisition of Danish autonomous territory "in one way or another" in recent weeks.
While Copenhagen expressed its willingness to cooperate with the US within the framework of NATO, they still affirm that the future of the island must be decided by the people here, who voted in 2008 to maintain autonomy.
Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen reaffirmed the island's commitment to Denmark and the EU at a joint press conference with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on January 13. Mr. Trump responded by saying, "it will be a big problem for him".
On January 14, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said that he had a "frank but also constructive" discussion with US officials about Greenland, but the two sides still have "fundamental disagreements".
