Trump's Greenland Ultimatum In Davos: "Say No And We Will Remember"

Delivering a much-awaited speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland's Davos as the world braced for another dose of 'America First' rhetoric and a doubling down on Greenland, US President Donald Trump did not disappoint on Wednesday.

Terming Greenland "our territory", Trump said the US wanted the country, but would not use force to acquire it.  At the same time, he issued a veiled threat: "You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no, and we will remember."

Beginning the address with a jibe, saying he was happy to be in beautiful Davos to join "so many business leaders, so many friends and a few enemies", it did not take long for Trump to extol the progress in the US under him while criticising Europe, stating unequivocally that it was not heading in the "right direction".

Coming to Greenland, which has driven a rift between the US and the European Union, Trump called the country a "big, beautiful piece of ice". Reiterating that no one other than the US could defend Greenland, he lamented that the country was "stupid" to give it back to Denmark after World War II, only to get ingratitude in return. 

"Would you like me to say a few words on Greenland?" he teased. "I was going to leave it out of the speech, but I think I would have been reviewed very negatively," he continued, eliciting laughter from the room full of global elites.

Claiming that he has "tremendous respect" for the people of Greenland and Denmark, Trump said no "nation or group of nations" could secure it other than the US. Bragging that his country was a great power, "much greater than people understand", the Republican leader cited the capture of  Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro earlier this month as proof.  

The US president said Denmark had fallen to Germany in six hours during World War II and his country had come to its aid.

"We felt an obligation to send our own forces to hold the Greenland territory, and hold it we did, at great cost and expense... We literally set up bases on Greenland for Denmark... We fought for Denmark, we weren't fighting for anyone else, we were fighting to save it for Denmark. Big, beautiful piece of ice... it's hard to call it land... it's a big piece of ice. We saved Greenland and we prevented our enemies from gaining a foothold in our hemisphere, so we did it for ourselves also," he said. 

Groans could be heard from the audience when he then said that the US won the war "big" and "without us, right now you would all be speaking German and a little Japanese, perhaps". 

'How Stupid Were We?'

After the war, the US gave Greenland back to Denmark, he recalled, asking, "How stupid were we to do that? But how ungrateful are they now?" 

Terming Greenland a "vast, almost entirely uninhabited and undeveloped territory", Trump argued that it is sitting undefended - "smack in the middle" - in a key strategic location between the US, Russia and China.

Greenland's mineral wealth and rare earths, he claimed, were not important to the US and it needed the island country for national and international security reasons. 

"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, a core security interest of the US," he asserted. 

Negotiations, And A Threat

"I am seeking immediate negotiations," he continued, "to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States, just as we have acquired many other territories throughout our history. Many European nations have too, there's nothing wrong with it. Some have great, vast wealth, vast lands all over the world. But this would not be a threat to NATO, it would enhance the security of the alliance."

Then came the mixed messaging: "We probably won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable, but I won't do that... I don't have to use force. I don't want to use force. I won't use force."

And then, much later in the 70-minute speech, the threat: "We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won't give it... You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no, and we will remember."

While US stocks rose after Trump's declaration that there will be no use of force, it's unlikely, at least in the short term, to calm tempers in the European Union, which were stoked by the US president declaring tariffs on several countries for not supporting his bid to acquire Greenland.

Earlier in the day, French President Emmanuel Macron had threatened a "trade bazooka" in response, referring to the EU's Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), which can be used to sanction individuals or institutions found to be putting undue pressure on the bloc.

"The crazy thing is that we could find ourselves in a situation where we use the anti-coercion mechanism for the very first time against the United States... Can you imagine it? It's crazy. I regret it, but it is the consequence of unnecessary aggressiveness. Still, we must all remain calm," he said.