“All we’re asking for is a piece of ice,” said Trump speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday (Photo: Screenshot from livestream)

 

In return for the US footing “100 per cent of the bill” for NATO, all the US wants is a “piece of ice”, US president Donald Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, referring to  Greenland, which is strategically located between the US, Russia, and China.

Trump claims Greenland is vital for US national security, and that the US is the only country that can defend it. 

He told business and political leaders gathered in Davos that the US had been treated “unfairly” by NATO. “We’ve given so much and gotten so little in return,” he said, adding that the US pays 100 per cent of NATO’s bills. “All we’re asking for is a piece of ice that will play a vital role in world peace. It’s a small ask compared to what we have given them [NATO].”

However, President Trump indicated the US would not use “excessive force” to get Greenland, increasing the likelihood that tariffs, or levies on imports of goods from EU countries, will be the main mechanism the US uses to try and get its way.

He said the US should never have relinquished control of Greenland after World War II, although most fact-checking websites say the US never owned Greenland. However, US forces did assist Denmark in World War II to defend Greenland against advancing German forces. 

“If there’s a war [in the Arctic], much of the action will take place on that ice,” said Trump, boasting about its proposed “Golden Dome” missile defence system, which he said is being built with US, not Israeli, technologies. 

According to Trump, in 2019, Denmark announced that it would spend $200 million strengthening Greenland’s defence, but he claims they spent less than 1 per cent of that.

Earlier in the day at Davos, during a panel discussion on whether Europe can defend itself, Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, refused to comment publicly on whether the US’s desire to acquire Greenland posed the greatest threat to the military alliance. He said he was working on the issue of Greenland “behind the scenes’ and that the only way to resolve tensions was via “thoughtful diplomacy”.

“We have to protect the Arctic. We are working on that and making sure collectively, we can defend the Arctic region,” said Rutte.

On the same panel, Finnish president, Alexander Stubb said the NATO alliance was stronger than it had ever been since the end of the Cold War, and that most of Finland’s armed forces were trained to fight in the Arctic.