The US president has mentioned Greenland again on Thursday night. This time in a post on his social media Truth Social.
The post is relatively short and written in capital letters, where he attacks the NATO alliance.
- NATO wasn't there when we needed them, and they won't be if we need them again.
- Remember Greenland, the big, poorly managed piece of ice, writes Donald Trump.
The announcement from Trump comes after he met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, after the United States has entered into a temporary ceasefire with Iran.
According to Ritzau, Rutte subsequently told CNN that he believes that some NATO countries have failed in connection with the situation in the Middle East.
Second time this week
This is the second time this week that Donald Trump has included Greenland in his harsh criticism of NATO.
This also happened on Monday at a press conference that was otherwise about the war against Iran.
At the end of the press conference, Trump began to criticize NATO for not helping the United States, after which he said:
- It all started with Greenland, if you want to hear the truth. We want Greenland. They won't give it to us, and I said goodbye, Trump said on Monday.
Will the crisis flare up again?
The statements from Trump come after a period in which he has not spoken about Greenland since he announced on February 22 that he, in cooperation with his special envoy for Greenland, Jeff Landry, would send a "hospital ship" to Greenland to treat the sick.
Before that, back in January, Trump announced that he had agreed with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the framework for an agreement on Greenland and the Arctic, after he had long claimed Greenland.
Since then, negotiations have been held between the United States and Greenland/Denmark at the official level, regarding the US military presence in Greenland.
Scientist: He wants to expand US territory
But the latest statements from Trump indicate that he is far from satisfied with that outcome.
Senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard, assessed on Wednesday to Sermitsiaq that it is now very clear that Trump wants Greenland to expand American territory:
– Trump is not interested in military bases or minerals. He is interested in expanding the territory of the United States, and the tactics he has put forward have not worked, which frustrates him, assesses Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard.
