Shorouk Express
“I don’t rule it out. I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything. No, not there. We need Greenland very badly. Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security,” Trump told NBC’s Meet the Press on May 4.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that Trump has ordered U.S. spy agencies to boost their intelligence-gathering efforts on the Arctic island. The Danish government summoned the U.S. ambassador to lodge a protest.
Last week, Reuters reported that White House officials are exploring a Compact of Free Association with the Danish territory, an arrangement currently used with Pacific island nations such as Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands. Under such a deal the U.S. would provide Greenland with essential services, military protection and largely duty-free trade, though the island would maintain its independence.
Rasmussen, who was Danish PM from 2001 to 2009, underlined that Greenland “is part of Denmark and Greenlanders do not want to become Americans.”
He added that while under a 1951 treaty the U.S. has the right to set up bases in Greenland, in recent decades it has been reducing its military presence on the island.
“The fact is that Greenland is part of NATO,” he said. “If the United States is dissatisfied with the defense of Greenland … we would appreciate a strengthened defense cooperation with the United States.”
