'How Stupid Of Us To Give Back Greenland': Trump's World War II Reminder To Denmark At Davos, Issues Open Warning to NATO

New Delhi: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that United States were "stupid" to give Greenland back to Denmark after defending it during World War II and because of such historic miscalculation, the world now faces the greatest risk it has ever faced. This comes amid the backdrop of the Trump administration's stern push to acquire the Arctic territory, claiming it as important for its national security. 

“After the war, we gave Greenland back to Denmark. How stupid were we to do that! But we did it. But we gave it back. But how ungrateful are they now! So now our country and the world face much greater risk than they did ever before because of missiles, nuclear, weapons of warfare..." Trump said at the World Economic Forum Summit at Davos.

Trump started off his speech with a jibe, saying that he was pleased to be in the presence of several business leaders, friends and “a few enemies”. His visit to the iconic scenic location in Europe for the annual business meet comes amid his recent dampening of relations with his transatlantic partners at a time when he had threatened to impose tariffs on eight European countries for not accepting US' urgency to acquire Greenland. Before starting off with his own version of justification for acquiring Greenland, he jokingly asked, "Would you like me to say a few words on Greenland?" 

“I was going to leave it out of the speech, but I think I would have been reviewed very negatively,” he continued on with his joke.

Trump pointed out that Denmark and people of Greenland are very underprepared in terms of military capabilities to defend themselves in the event of an invasion by any non-NATO power.

“Two weeks ago they (Greenland) saw weapons that nobody ever heard of. They were not able to fire one shot at it...They said we got our men on our side, press the trigger and nothing happened. No anti-aircraft missiles went up, there was one that went up about 30 feet and crashed down right next to the people...Those defensive systems were made by Russia and China. So they are gonna back to the drawing board, I guess,” he said.

Only US Can Defend This ‘Giant Piece of Ice’

Trump said that they have great respect for the people of Greenland but the only power that can defend the territory is the United States.

"I have tremendous respect for both the people of Greenland and the people of Denmark. Every NATO ally has an obligation to defend their own territory and the fact is that no nation, or group of nations is in any position to secure Greenland other than the United States. We are a great power, much greater than people even understand us...," the US President said.

The US President said that despite Denmark's promise to spend more on improving Denmark's defences, they have done little.

“In 2019, Denmark said that they would spend over $200 million to strengthen Greenland's defences. But they spent less than 1%. There's no sign of Denmark there, I say that with great respect for Denmark, whose people I love,” he explained.

Affirming his position to acquire Greenland, Trump reiterated, “It's the United States alone that can protect this giant mass of land, this giant piece of ice, develop it and improve it and make it so that it is good for Europe, safe for Europe and safe for us. That's the reason I am seeking immediate negotiations to one again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States, just as we have acquired many other territories throughout our history, as many of the European nations have.”

Trump's Lesson In History

Explaining, how the US has stood by Denmark to defend Greenland during World War II, Trump said, “We saw this in World War II. When Denmark fell to Germany after just six hours of fighting and was totally unable to defend either itself or Greenland. So the United States was then compelled. We did it. We felt an obligation to do it, to send our own forces to hold the Greenland territory. And hold it we did, at great cost and expense. They didn't have a change of getting on it. And they tried. Denmark knows that.” 

“We literally set up bases on Greenland for Denmark. We fought for Denmark. We were not fighting for anyone else. We were fighting to save it, for Denmark. Big beautiful piece of ice. Its hard to call it land. We saved Greenland and successfully prevented our enemies from gaining a foothold in our hemisphere. So we did it for ourselves also. And then, after the war, which we won, we won it big,” he added.

Has Become Strategically Important For US Now

Trump said that Greenland has become an important piece of land strategically, at present, because of its location, as it sits right between the US and its traditional adversaries, Russia and China.

“Greenland is a vast uninhabited and undeveloped territory sitting on defended in a key strategic location between the United States, Russia and China. Right, smack in the middle. Wasn't important, nearly, when we gave it back. When we gave it back it wasn't the same as it is now,” the President said.

He even pointed out that the US does not want to acquire Greenland to mine its rare earths, but to protect the Western Hemisphere, which is an important aspect of its international policy for decades.

“It (Greenland) has so much rare earths. And to get to that rare earths you have to go through 100s of sheet of ice. That's not the reason we need it. We need it for strategic national security and international security. This enormous unsecured island is actually part of North America, on the northern frontier of the Western Hemisphere. That's our territory. It is therefore international security aspect of the United States of America and it has been our policy for hundreds of years to prevent outside threats from entering our hemisphere,” the President elaborated.

Earlier Attempts By US Presidents

Trump said that he is not the first President who has expressed his desire to purchase Greenland. In fact, the first such claim was made in the 1860s by U.S. Secretary of State William Seward. 

“American Presidents have sought to purchase Greenland for nearly two centuries. They should have kept it after World War II but they had a different President...(It is) much more necessary now than it was at that time,” he said adding that acquisitions by sovereign nations have happened in the past and by several nations throughout centuries, for their own specific needs.

Not a Threat to NATO

Trump maintained that his push for acquisition of Greenland should not be perceived as a threat to NATO and instead, it would strengthen the transatlantic security alliance. 

"This (acquisition of Greenland) would not be a threat to NATO. This would greatly enhance the security of the entire alliance, the NATO alliance. The United States is treated very unfairly by NATO. We give so much and we get so little in return. I've been a critic of NATO for many years. I've done more to help NATO than any other president by far," he said.

Trump has been pushing on acquiring Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, citing national security concerns. US claims that Greenland's strategic location is vital to its security, but the leadership in Denmark, Greenland and European countries have rejected the idea. 

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