Trump Calls for Greenland Negotiations – Latest News
A purchase by the USA would increase NATO’s security and would not be a threat to the alliance, Trump emphasized in his speech in Davos. He would “not use violence.”
US President Donald Trump in his speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) called for immediate negotiations on the acquisition of Greenland in Davos. Greenland is in a strategically important location and is undefended, Trump said. Only the United States could defend “this huge piece of land,” Trump said. “We need it for strategic national and international security.”
Trump did not say who he was negotiating with – Denmark and other European countries had always confirmed that the island was not for sale. Trump emphasizes that the Greenland dispute is not, as is often claimed, about the mining of raw materials such as rare earths, which lie hundreds of meters beneath the ice. A purchase by the USA would jeopardize the security of the Nato increase and not be a threat to the alliance. The USA saved Denmark in the Second World War, but now the country is showing itself to be ungrateful.
Trump emphasized that he would “not use violence” to enforce his demands. “I don’t have to use force, I don’t want to use force, I won’t use force,” he told NATO partners in Switzerland. “That’s probably the most important statement I made because people thought I was going to use violence,” he added.
The fact is that no nation or group of nations is capable of securing Greenland. A takeover by the USA would be “good for Europe,” said Trump. The US President said that this was “not a threat to NATO”. He criticized the alliance for taking so much and giving so little. In order to defend the island, Greenland must become the property of the USA – it cannot be defended with anything less.
He wanted to build a protective shield on the Arctic island to defend North America. The largest “Golden Dome” that has ever existed will be built there, said Trump. In military terms, a “Golden Dome” describes a defense system. Israel, for example, uses such a defense system. Canada will also be defended simply by its existence. Canada receives many free services from the USA, Trump added. The country should be grateful for that, but it isn’t.
Trump called for a quick end to the war in Ukraine. Last month alone, 31,000 people were killed, Trump said in Davos. “It’s a bloodbath there and I want it to end.” “What does the United States get for all this work, this money, except death, destruction and huge amounts of money for people who don’t recognize what we do,” Trump said. NATO and Europe must take care of Ukraine. “The United States is far away. We have a big, beautiful ocean separating us from it. We have nothing to do with it.”
Trump emphasized that he was only working to end the war in Ukraine because of the people. “They are young. Young people like you. (…) They go to war, their parents are so proud.” Two weeks later they were dead. That was the only reason he wanted to end the war. “But by doing this, I’m helping Europe, I’m helping NATO.”
Trump repeatedly expressed his fundamental criticism of Europe in Davos. The continent is “not moving in the right direction,” he told heads of state and government and business leaders. This is due, among other things, to “uncontrolled mass migration and endless imports from abroad,” he said. Europe is “no longer recognizable”.
The US President also described Europe as having a “catastrophic collapse” in its energy supply. However, he did not blame the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, but rather the expansion of wind power and other green energy sources. Germany, for example, is producing significantly less electricity than in 2017, and energy prices have risen massively, Trump said. Climate protection is the “biggest fraud in history,” emphasized the US President.
The USA, on the other hand, had become the world’s leading power again after his first year in office, Trump said. “The USA is the economic engine of the planet. And when America booms, the whole world booms,” said the US President.
In his speech, Trump praised his own, highly controversial economic and tariff policies. “Instead of raising taxes or encouraging domestic producers, we are lowering them and raising tariffs on foreign nations to pay for the damage they cause,” Trump said. “In 12 months, we removed over 270,000 civil servants from federal payrolls, marking the largest decline in public employment since the end of World War II. No one would have expected this, but we had no choice to make our country great again.”
The US President also praised his budget policy – which is highly controversial among economists: “We have cut federal spending by $100 billion and reduced the federal budget deficit by 27 percent in a single year. It will fall significantly further, which will significantly reduce inflation from the record highs of the Biden administration.”
The US President justified his ordered intervention in Venezuela and announced golden times for the South American country. The 50 million barrels of oil (159 liters each) that the US would receive from Venezuela would be split between the two countries, Trump said. “Twenty years ago (Venezuela) was a great country, but now they have problems,” Trump said. But the USA would now help. “Venezuela is going to make more money in the next six months than it has in the last 20 years, all the big oil companies are coming to the country. It’s unbelievable,” Trump said. The country will do great. US gas production has also increased under his leadership and is now at an all-time high, said the head of state.
Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP) is also in Davos. However, a meeting between Stocker and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj planned for Wednesday will not take place. Stocker’s spokeswoman told the APA that it should be rescheduled. The focus of Stocker’s economic policy working meetings in Switzerland is the implementation of the newly adopted Austrian industrial strategy.
“Especially in geopolitically challenging times, dialogue is more important than ever: Economic cooperation creates trust, strengthens stability and often builds bridges where political paths become more difficult. Forums such as the World Economic Forum offer the space to conduct this exchange directly, openly and in personal conversation,” said the Federal Chancellery in a press release. (APA/dpa/Reuters/AFP)