Trump says the US will not use force to gain Greenland
Speaking in Davos, the US president played down the issue as a "small ask" over a "piece of ice" and said that an acquisition would be no threat to the NATO alliance.
US President Donald Trump delivers a special address during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Jan 21, 2026. (Photo: AFP/ Mandel Ngan)
DAVOS, Switzerland: US President Donald Trump ruled out the use of force in his bid to control Greenland on Wednesday (Jan 21), but said in a speech in Davos that no other country can secure the Danish territory.
"People thought I would use force, but I don't have to use force," Trump said at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Switzerland. "I don't want to use force. I won't use force."
Trump took a hectoring tone, chastising the United States' European allies for their insolence, disloyalty and policy missteps in areas ranging from wind power and the environment to immigration and geopolitics.
"I love Europe and I want to see Europe go good, but it's not heading in the right direction," Trump said.
Trump's increasing threats to Europe over Greenland have frayed transatlantic ties and worried Europeans, overshadowing a speech that was intended to focus primarily on the US economy.
Calling Denmark "ungrateful," the Republican US president played down the issue as a "small ask" over a "piece of ice" and that an acquisition would be no threat to the NATO alliance, which includes Denmark and the United States.
"No nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States," Trump said, adding: "I'm seeking immediate negotiations to once again to discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States."
On several occasions during a speech which lasted more than an hour, Trump mistakenly referred to Greenland as Iceland.
"It's clear from this speech that the president's ambition is intact," Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters in Copenhagen, adding: "In isolation it's positive that the president says what he does regarding the military, but that does not make the problem go away".
Trump, who marked the end of a turbulent first year in office on Tuesday, is set to overshadow the agenda of the WEF, where global elites chew over economic and political trends.
NATO leaders have warned that Trump's Greenland strategy could upend the alliance, while the leaders of Denmark and Greenland have offered a wide array of ways for a greater US presence on the strategic island territory of 57,000 people.
"We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won't give it," Trump said in his speech to a packed congress hall.
