Trump says U.S. will 'get Greenland,' military force may not be needed but not ruled out

 
INA-sources
 
President Donald Trump refused on Saturday to take military force off the table in his quest to acquire Greenland, saying he had an obligation to pursue ownership of the Danish territory that has rebuffed his advances.
 
A day after members of his administration, including Vice President JD Vance, visited a U.S. military installation there, Trump, in an interview with NBC News, said he'd "absolutely" had conversations about annexing Greenland.
 
“We’ll get Greenland. Yeah, 100%,” Trump said, according to the news outlet.
 
Vance heaped criticism on Denmark during his Friday visit, accusing the country of lagging on security and leaving Greenland open to invasion from Russia and China. He encouraged the people of Greenland to break away from Denmark to create space for the U.S. to have a conversation with the territory about acquiring it.
 
He told reporters after that he was not signaling a change in the administration's policy. Rather, he said, he was emphasizing that Trump does not believe military force is needed for the U.S. to takeover Greenland.
 
"We do not think that military force is ever going to be necessary," Vance said at Pituffik Space Base.
 
 
Asked about the comments during the NBC interview, Trump recommitted to taking control of the island but said there's a "good possibility" that the U.S. can do it without the assistance of the military.
 
"No, I never take military force off the table. But I think there's a good possibility that we could do it without military force," Trump said. "We have an obligation to protect the world. This is world peace, this is international security. And I have that obligation while I'm president. No, I don't take anything off the table."
 
Vance's visit with Trump administration officials and his wife, Usha, replaced a multiday trip that the second lady had planned to make without her husband. The original schedule was scrapped after Greenland's former prime minister called the move "highly aggressive" and a "provocation," and the government said the U.S. delegation was not invited to tour the island.
 
The vice president and U.S. officials, including Trump's national security adviser Michael Waltz, instead visited the military base.
 
In his remarks, Vance said Denmark had "underinvested" in the security of Greenland.
 
"Our message to Denmark is very simple. You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland," he said. "That has to change. And because it hasn’t changed, this is why President Trump’s policy in Greenland is what it is."
 
Denmark's foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, hit back at Vance on X after the visit, saying in a video on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that his country can take criticism but does not "appreciate the tone" of the Trump administration's comments about his country.
 
"This is not how you speak to your close allies," he said.
 
He invited the U.S. to work with Denmark to enhance its military presence in Greenland.
 
Greenland's new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, also said the comments showed a "lack of respect" for the island.
 
Denmark is a NATO ally and Greenland's residents say they are opposed to becoming a part of the United States.
 
Still, the U.S. president has pressed ahead. "We need Greenland, very importantly, for international security. We have to have Greenland," he said on Friday at the White House.
 
 
Source: USA Today