US President Donald Trump delivers a special address during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2026. Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI /AFP via Getty ImagesArticle content
Donald Trump said the U.S. won’t use military force in its bid to acquire Greenland for “national security” reasons, but the president made it clear his goal remains unchanged.
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During his lengthy speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, Trump said the U.S. likely won’t be able to achieve its goal without employing “excessive strength and force,” which he said would be “unstoppable.”
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“But I don’t have to use force, I don’t want to use force, I won’t use force,” Trump said.
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The president broached the Greenland issue early in his speech, joking at first that he was considering leaving it out. And despite repeatedly deviating to other topics during the nearly 70 minutes on stage, he returned to the “large piece of ice in the middle of the ocean” on several occasions.
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He said he respects the people of Greenland and Denmark, but said “every NATO ally has an obligation to defend their own territory and the fact is no nation, or any group of nations, is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States.”
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He went on to say that were it not for U.S. intervention in WWII, Greenland would have fallen to the Germans, remarking to the audience that they’d now be speaking German or Japanese.
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Between 1940 and 1945, with the Danish government under Germany’s thumb, Greenland temporarily became a sovereign nation, prompting the U.S. to employ the Monroe Doctrine and occupy it to prevent it from falling into the enemy’s hands. After the war, Denmark declined U.S. offers to purchase the island and both became members of NATO shortly after.
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“After the war, we gave Greenland back to Denmark. How stupid were we to do that? But we did it. We gave it back,” Trump said. “But how ungrateful are they now?”
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Trump called for “immediate negotiations” to resolve the matter, but also said Denmark and Europe at large, Trump said, have a choice.
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“You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative, or you can say no, and we will remember.”
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According to Bloomberg, Denmark responded with a swift no.
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“We will not enter into any negotiations on the basis of giving up fundamental principles,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said. “That is something we will never do.”
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Trump said Greenland is not important to the U.S. because of “rare earth minerals” and insisted its acquisition is strictly strategic to protect it from Russia and China.
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“This enormous unsecured island is actually part of North America, on the northern frontier of the western hemisphere,” Trump said. “That’s our territory.”
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Among the many grievances shared by the president during his circuitous speech were repeated gripes about NATO. He repeated his complaint about the U.S.’s financial contribution to the 76-year-old treaty group, one he said wouldn’t exist were it not for his first term as president.