President Trump says he won’t use force in effort to take Greenland
President Donald Trump during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump said he wouldn’t employ force to take Greenland for U.S. security reasons, using his speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland to say that NATO shouldn’t stand in the way.
He urged NATO to allow the U.S. to take Greenland from Denmark and added an extraordinary warning, saying alliance members can say yes, “and we’ll be very appreciative. Or you can say, ‘No,’ and we will remember.”
Trump tried to focus on his efforts to tame inflation and spur the economy back home. But his more than 70-minute address focused more on his gripes with other countries.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday called Trump’s planned new tariffs on eight EU countries over Greenland a “mistake” and questioned Trump’s trustworthiness. French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU could retaliate by deploying one of its most powerful economic tools, known colloquially as a trade “bazooka.”
Trump declined to name a reasonable price for the United States to buy Greenland during a meeting with the NATO secretary general.
“There’s a bigger price, and that’s the price of safety and security and national security and international security having to do with many of your countries,” Trump responded when asked by The Associated Press how he would calculate a reasonable offer for the strategic land mass. “That’s really the price. It’s a big price.”
Trump responded ambiguously when asked to elaborate on his earlier comment that “we will remember” if Denmark refuses to sell Greenland to the U.S.
After a reporter asked Trump about Danish leaders’ rejection of his comments about acquiring Greenland, he said “I don’t like getting it secondhand.”
In his speech, Trump insisted that he wants to “get Greenland, including right, title and ownership.”
A Danish government official told The Associated Press afterward that Copenhagen is ready to discuss U.S. security concerns in the Arctic. But the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, underscored the government’s position that “red lines” — namely Denmark’s sovereignty — must be respected.
(Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
