President Donald Trump renewed calls for the United States to assume control over Greenland as he arrived at the NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 7.
“Greenland doesn’t help Denmark. Denmark doesn’t spend money to really help Greenland, but it’s an important part for the United States,” Trump said during a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday.
Greenland “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” Trump added.
In his push for the United States to assume control over the island, Trump has pointed to growing Russian and Chinese activity in the waterways of the High North. Trump has also argued that controlling Greenland would benefit his “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative, as it could host new missile launch early warning systems covering the Arctic Circle.
The United States currently operates the Pituffik Space Base, formerly Thule Air Base, situated on Greenland’s northwest coast. The U.S. military previously hosted several other bases on the island, which have since been closed.
The push for U.S. control over Greenland has fueled consternation within the NATO alliance, of which Denmark is also a member.
Responding to Trump’s comments about Greenland, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she expects Denmark’s allies to respect her country’s territorial sovereignty.
“It is a well-known position of the United States that it wants to own and take over Greenland. I hope that it is equally well-known everywhere that this is not going to happen,” she said.
In a Facebook post on July 7, Greenlandic Foreign Minister Múte Egede said the island’s future should be determined by its people and addressed diplomatically.
“We must insist on finding solutions through dialogue and respect. Our future is decided by us in Greenland. It’s always been like that. And that’s how it will always be,” Egede wrote.
As he discussed Greenland on Tuesday, Trump raised questions about broader U.S. support for NATO and the defense of Europe.
“With all the money we spend to help them with Russia—and we don’t have to spend any money—we could remove all of our soldiers out of Europe, because, as you probably noticed, Europe’s a very different place than it was 20 years ago,” Trump said.
Trump has pushed for other NATO members to increase their military spending and to relieve U.S. forces of some of the responsibility for Europe’s defenses.
Hegseth said the review could impact the level of continued U.S. support for the alliance.