President Donald Trump has ruled out seizing Greenland by military force, but called for immediate negotiations to acquire it after days of escalating tensions that have rocked transatlantic relations and alarmed markets.
The US president’s comments, during a long and sometimes rambling speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, came after he made threats against Denmark and other NATO allies, ranging from a military occupation of an Arctic island to hefty new tariffs.
“People expected me to use force. I don’t need to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force,” Trump said in a set-piece Davos speech, continuing to press Europe to comply. He later said military action was “not on the table.”
The US president said he is “calling for immediate negotiations” to discuss acquiring Greenland from Denmark “just as we have acquired many other territories throughout our history.”
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen welcomed President Trump’s statement as “positive” but added: “This problem will not go away.”
In a subsequent meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, President Trump said he “could see” a reasonable price for Greenland.
In his Davos speech, the U.S. president made no mention of the 10% tariffs on goods he promised to introduce on February 1 unless Denmark and seven other European countries agree to hand over Denmark’s autonomous Arctic territories.
Since President Trump first expressed interest in 2019, Denmark and Greenland have repeatedly insisted the island is not for sale.
President Trump said Europeans have a choice over Greenland: “If you say yes, we will be very grateful; if you say no, we will be remembered.”
He added that the “huge insecure island” is part of North America and that the U.S. takeover should not be seen as a threat to NATO.
His threats against Greenland and bellicose attitude toward U.S. allies prompted the sale of U.S. assets earlier this week. The market recouped some of its hefty losses after his comments denying the use of force.
In early afternoon trading in New York, the S&P 500 rose 0.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.1%. The Stoxx Europe 600 index reversed its earlier decline to end unchanged.
During his speech, President Trump appeared to acknowledge the negative market reaction to transatlantic tensions.
Confusing Greenland with Iceland, he said: “Yesterday our stock market experienced its first decline because of Iceland. So Iceland has already paid a lot of money.”
But he added that the change was “peanuts” compared to past gains and that the stock market had an “incredible future”.
The US president also gave a speech to condemn an ”unrecognizable” Europe, which has been weakened by economic decline and unrestricted immigration. “I love Europe…but it’s not going in the right direction,” he said.
Trump’s intimidation of Denmark and its European partners has infuriated European officials, with many claiming he has destroyed trust in transatlantic relations.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer accused the EU of finding an “excuse” to suspend its trade deal with the United States after the European Parliament halted ratification of the pact over President Trump’s threat of additional tariffs.