Crucial Quote
“That’s what hurt my relationship with NATO,” Trump said after a reporter asked him about the territory on Tuesday. “Greenland doesn’t help Denmark, Denmark doesn’t spend money to really help Greenland. But it’s an important part of the United States, and it is surrounded by China ships and Russian ships.” Greenland is a self-governing autonomous territory of Denmark. Both the Danish government and the Greenlandic government have repeatedly rejected Trump’s overtures to take over the territory, but that hasn’t stopped repeated threats. He finally ruled out using military force against a U.S. ally in his speech at the World Economic Forum in January, and has since sent Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry to the territory as a special envoy (he received a cold reception from Greenlanders). Trump announced an agreement was reached on the “framework of a future deal” for the territory in January, following a meeting with Rutte, but details of the agreement were vague and reportedly unclear to Danish officials. Rutte reminded Trump of this agreement while speaking beside him on Wednesday. “You and I made a deal in Davos,” the secretary general told the president, before insisting ““I will make sure that that deal is step-by-step being implemented.”
Tangent
Earlier during the meeting, Trump also toned down his criticisms of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who he recently attacked again on social media days before the NATO summit. But speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump downplayed the ongoing feud, saying “I think she’s a nice person, actually.” Trump still repeated criticism that Meloni “refused to help us” with the war in Iran and securing the Strait of Hormuz. “It soured my relationship with her a little bit, but I like her,” Trump said, later adding “she just wasn’t there for us, and I wasn’t happy about that.”
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Key Background
Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO since returning to office, and in recent weeks the administration has telegraphed a possible troop drawdown in Europe. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new review of deployments on the continent in June, but didn’t confirm this would lead to troop reductions on the continent. The Pentagon pulled about 4,000 personnel from Poland and Germany in May, but quickly walked the drawdown back by deploying an additional 5,000 troops to Poland. When asked if there would be any further troop drawdowns in Europe, Trump said “we’re going to see,” before attacking member countries for not supporting the U.S.’ war against Iran. “I was very disappointed with NATO,” Trump said. “We weren’t treated well, because we did something in Iran. We didn’t need anybody’s help. I didn’t even want their help. But before I asked, they said they wouldn’t be there. And we’ve invested trillions of dollars in NATO,” Trump said. “You would think that they would be very willing to do something to help us,” he added.
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Further Reading
ForbesThese Billionaires Bet Big On Greenland—After Trump Took InterestBy Martina Di Licosa