‘Won’t use force to get Greenland’
DAVOS, Jan 21:
US President Donald Trump today said he has great respect for his “friend” Prime Minister Narendra Modi and they are going to have a good trade deal, according to a media report.
“I have great respect for your Prime Minister. He’s a fantastic man and a friend of mine. We are going to have a good deal,” Moneycontrol quoted Trump as saying.
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The report said the brief statement was made exclusively to it in a reply to a question on the India-US trade agreement.
The US President was in Davos to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
Trump insisted today that he wants to “get Greenland, including right, title and ownership,” but said he would not use force to do so while repeatedly deriding European allies and vowing that NATO should not try to block US expansionism.
In an extraordinary speech at the World Economic Forum, the president said he was asking for “a piece of ice, cold and poorly located.” He said the US had effectively saved Europe during World War II and even declared of NATO: “It’s a very small ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades.”
Even as Trump tried to downplay his designs on Greenland, the implications of his remarks could be enormous, potentially rupturing an alliance that has held firm since the dawn of the Cold War and seemed among the globe’s most unshakable pacts.
NATO was founded by leading European nations and Canada, which have been steadfast in saying Greenland is not for sale and cannot be wrested from Denmark. That means the Davos meeting could be could be just the beginning of a larger standoff that may eventually reshape geopolitics worldwide.
Trump, though, simply urged NATO to stand aside and added an ominous warning.
“We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won’t give it,” Trump said. “You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no, and we will remember.”
Despite that, he also acknowledged: “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, OK?”
“I don’t have to use force,” he said. “I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”
Instead, he called for opening “immediate negotiations” for the US to acquire Greenland.
“This enormous unsecured island is actually part of North America,” Trump said. “That’s our territory.”
The president has spent weeks saying that the US will get control of Greenland no matter what it takes, arguing that Washington should be in charge to counter threats in the surrounding Arctic sea by Russia and China.
Trump also argued at every turn that the US is booming and its economy is strong, in sharp contrast, he said, to Europe.
“I want to see Europe go good, but it’s not heading in the right direction,” said Trump, who also noted, “We want strong allies, not seriously weakened ones.” He said of European economies, “You all follow us down, and you follow us up.”
Trump turning the Davos gathering upside-down began even before he got there. (AP)
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