{"id":126315,"date":"2026-07-09T14:27:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/126315\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T14:27:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:27:32","slug":"denmark-ready-to-defend-greenland-as-trump-renews-call-for-us-takeover-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/126315\/","title":{"rendered":"Denmark \u2018ready to defend\u2019 Greenland as Trump renews call for US takeover \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Denmark has vowed to defend its territory after President Donald Trump insisted again that the United States should control Greenland, upending a Nato summit in Turkey meant to be a show of strength and unity.<\/p>\n

Denmark\u2019s Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, said her country is \u201cready to defend every inch of Nato including our own territory\u201d in the event of an attack, and would rely on Nato allies to honour their commitment to defend each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenland people\u2019s right for self-determination,\u201d Ms Frederiksen said ahead of the meeting of Nato leaders. \u201cGreenland is of course not for sale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Trump had reopened old wounds on the eve of the meeting by insisting that the United States should control Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory.<\/p>\n

Arriving at the summit on Wednesday, Mr Trump said he was \u201cnot happy with Nato\u201d for its member nations\u2019 pushback against his earlier efforts to take over Greenland, adding that the territory \u201cis very important for the United States, but it\u2019s not important for Denmark\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump\u2019s renewed interest in Greenland could put at risk the entire future of Nato, which was founded in 1949 to counter the threat to European security posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.<\/p>\n

The organisation is normally focused on outside threats such as that posed by Russia. It is not designed to deal with threats from within.<\/p>\n

Iceland\u2019s Prime Minister, Kristrun Frostadottir, said Greenland \u201cbelongs to the people of Greenland\u201d, and called for unity in the face of Russia, which she called \u201cthe biggest threat\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte said from Ankara on Wednesday that he believes the United States is fully committed to the alliance. He praised Mr Trump for the series of US strikes on Iran overnight, after Tehran struck three merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

\"PrimePrime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Denmark was ready to defend \u2018every inch of Nato\u2019 including its own territory (Emrah Gurel\/AP) (Emrah Gurel\/AP Photo\/Emrah Gurel) <\/p>\n

\u201cI think what you did last night was absolutely necessary,\u201d Mr Rutte said to Mr Trump. \u201cIt was a very strong response, and I\u2019m with you on this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US strikes, as well as the revoking of a licence allowing Iran to sell its oil on global markets, underscored the fragility of an interim deal to end months of fighting.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump said on Wednesday the interim agreement with Iran is \u201cover\u201d after the strikes, but that he will allow talks to continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I think it\u2019s over,\u201d Mr Trump responded when asked about the status of the ceasefire. \u201cIt\u2019s just a waste of time dealing with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The summit in Ankara was meant to focus on progress made towards meeting the alliance\u2019s spending targets \u2014 something Mr Rutte highlighted by noting numerous countries that are already investing more.<\/p>\n

\"NatoNato secretary-general Mark Rutte said he believed the US is fully committed to Nato (Emrah Gurel\/AP) (Emrah Gurel\/AP Photo\/Emrah Gurel) <\/p>\n

\u201cThe commitment is there, no doubt,\u201d Mr Rutte said before chairing the summit, but noted the Trump administration expects European allies and Canada \u201cwill equalise their spending with the United States\u201d.<\/p>\n

In an attempt last month to mollify the US leader, Mr Rutte went to Washington to hail the \u201cTrump trillion\u201d \u2014 the 1.2 trillion dollars that European allies and Canada have added to defence spending since Mr Trump came to power in 2017.<\/p>\n

Yet Mr Trump has demanded \u201cloyalty\u201d and branded Nato a \u201cpaper tiger\u201d after some allies refused to grant open access to their bases for US forces to attack Iran.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump on Wednesday blasted Nato member Spain for its refusals to allow US forces to use its bases to attack Iran, saying it was a \u201cterrible partner in Nato\u201d and renewing his threats to cut off trade with Spain.<\/p>\n

As leaders converged on Ankara, Mr Rutte hosted a \u201cbig reveal\u201d event to showcase the many deals planned for the increased spending \u2014 much of it to be spent on US companies, creating thousands of jobs for Americans.<\/p>\n

Nato diplomats and officials had hoped that Mr Trump would take the win, but judging by some of his remarks since arriving in Turkey, they are in for yet another dressing down.<\/p>\n

\"USUS President Donald Trump, second right, arrives for a group photo during the Nato summit in Turkey (Francisco Seco\/AP) (Francisco Seco\/AP Photo\/Francisco Seco) <\/p>\n

Mr Trump has long argued that the US carries more than its fair share of the defence burden for Nato. At last year\u2019s summit, the allies agreed to invest 5% of their gross domestic product on defence \u2014 3.5% on their defence budgets and 1.5% on infrastructure so troops and equipment can move faster in times of conflict.<\/p>\n

Yet new figures released by Nato on Tuesday showed that Slovenia, Belgium, Spain and the Czech Republic could be in hot water with the Trump administration as they struggle to meet the alliance\u2019s old spending target of 2% of GDP.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration wants to see a more lean and lethal \u201cNato 3.0\u201d, with Europe taking responsibility for its own security, including Ukraine, with conventional weapons while America would continue to provide its nuclear umbrella.<\/p>\n

However, the Pentagon has launched a six-month review of US military presence in Europe, leaving allies to seek clarity on just how deeply Mr Trump intends to cut US force numbers.<\/p>\n

President Volodymyr Zelensky made a fresh appeal on Tuesday for Ukraine to be allowed to join the alliance, saying Ukrainian armed forces are highly experienced and would only boost Nato\u2019s defence capabilities.<\/p>\n

Mr Zelensky highlighted Ukraine\u2019s adaptability and its ability to strike deep inside Russia, hit Moscow\u2019s oil refineries and other energy targets. He said Ukraine\u2019s armed forces are \u201celiminating\u201d on average 30,000 Russian troops every month.<\/p>\n

\"PresidentPresident Volodymyr Zelensky made a fresh appeal for Ukraine to be allowed to join Nato (Metin Aktas\/AP) (Metin Akta\u015f\/Metin Akta\u015f\/Pool Anadolu via AP) <\/p>\n

Concern has been mounting among some northern, central and eastern European countries that Russia might be preparing a hybrid attack \u2014 a combination of conventional warfare with tactics such as cyber attacks \u2014 on the continent as President Vladimir Putin struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

US senator Jeanne Shaheen, one member of a congressional delegation attending the Nato summit, said at a news conference on Wednesday that she hoped there would be a \u201crecommitment\u201d to Ukraine, and that the momentum on the battlefield favoured Kyiv.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to do everything possible to ramp up pressure on Russia to come to the table,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As the summit ended, President Trump said the US will give a licence to Ukraine to manufacture Patriot air defence systems to help counter Russian missile attacks, a huge coup for Ukraine which has badly needed the technology for the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll give them the right to make Patriots. We\u2019ll show them how to do it,\u201d Mr Trump said as he met Mr Zelensky. \u201cI think they can produce them pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patriots are expensive, in high demand and take a long time to produce. Mr Zelensky has for years been asking for more of them, and more recently for a licence so that Ukraine can manufacture its own.<\/p>\n

\"DonaldDonald Trump met Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Ankara (Alex Brandon\/AP) (Alex Brandon\/AP Photo\/Alex Brandon) <\/p>\n

The tone of Mr Trump\u2019s meeting with the Ukrainian leader was a break from earlier encounters which ended in acrimony, and Mr Trump praised Mr Zelensky\u2019s willingness to reach a deal on ending the fighting in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

He said the Ukrainian president has \u201cdone an amazing job\u201d and \u201cbeen very effective\u201d in the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve actually developed a good relationship. It\u2019s hard to believe,\u201d Mr Trump said, adding he believed a deal on ending the war was on the horizon and that the US would \u201cwork on some kind of security package\u201d to provide to Ukraine.<\/p>\n

In a declaration following Wednesday\u2019s summit, Nato leaders pledged to provide Ukraine with 80 billion dollars to help meet its defence needs this year and next, noting \u201cthe long-term threat Russia poses to Euro-Atlantic security\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Denmark has vowed to defend its territory after President Donald Trump insisted again that the United States should…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[27,7585,26,71,10572,57,762,2271,74,238,7732,75,155,652,10461],"class_list":["post-126315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denmark","tag-danmark","tag-defence","tag-denmark","tag-europe","tag-frederiksen","tag-greenland","tag-international","tag-iran","tag-nato","tag-russia","tag-rutte","tag-trump","tag-turkey","tag-us","tag-zelensky"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116890491118732066","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}