US President Donald Trump has renewed his threat of using military force to annex Greenland, where in his remarks delivered to an NBC News interview, Trump said that he wouldn’t rule it out to make the self-governing Danish territory a part of the United States.
According to CNN, this comes in line with the various comments the US President has made in recent times regarding seizing control of the resource-rich island, which he insists the US needs for national security purposes.
While speaking to NBC News’ Kristen Welker in an interview that aired on Sunday, Trump said, “I don’t rule it out,” “I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything.” CNN reported that Trump said, “We need Greenland very badly”.
As per CNN, he added, “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.”
According to CNN, he added that he doubted it would happen – but that the possibility is “certainly” there.
Notably, Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in buying the island, or the US taking it by force or economic coercion, even as NATO ally Denmark and Greenland have firmly rejected the idea.
Describing the strategic importance of Greenland, CNN noted that there are a few factors driving that interest. These are– Greenland occupies a unique geopolitical position, sitting between the US and Europe, which could help repel any potential attack from Russia, experts have said. It also lies along a key shipping lane, and is part of the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap, a strategic maritime region.
However, according to CNN, experts also suspect Trump is eyeing other aspects of Greenland such as its trove of natural resources, which may become more accessible as climate change melts the territory’s ice. These include oil and gas, and the rare earth metals in high demand for electric cars, wind turbines and military equipment.
Despite Trump’s plans, Greenland has pushed back strongly.
“President Trump says that the United States ‘will get Greenland.’ Let me be clear: The United States will not get it. We do not belong to anyone else. We decide our own future,” the island’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in March after Trump again suggested the use of military force.
According to CNN, Greenland’s not the only sovereign territory Trump has his sights on; the president has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada and make it the US’ “51st state,” souring relations between the two longtime allies.
Last week, Canada’s Liberal Party swept to victory in federal elections, with Prime Minister Mark Carney riding on a wave of anti-Trump sentiment and using his victory speech to declare Canada would “never” yield to the United States.
Citing the NBC interview, CNN reported that Trump said it was “highly unlikely” he’d use military force to annex Canada. “I don’t see it with Canada. I just don’t see it, I have to be honest with you,” he said.
(with inputs from ANI)
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