Trump threatens to acquire Canada, Greenland, next to NATO Chiefs – Country
U.S. President Donald Trump repeated his often-voiced wish on Thursday – this time the leader of NATO sitting next to him.
When reporters asked about the U.S. taking over Greenland during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump said: “I think this will happen.”
“I sat with a man that might be very useful – you know Mark, we need to be for international security,” he continued to turn to Rutte.
The Secretary-General said he did not want to “drag NATO into dialogue about the U.S. acquisition of Greenland, but recognized the importance of Arctic security and the northern countries working together to fight China and Russia under “U.S. leadership”.
When asked about Canadian tariffs, Trump spoke about his dissatisfaction with Canadian trade and called for making Canada the 51st state in the United States.
“It would be the most incredible country visually,” he said. “If you look at the map, they're drawing artificial lines between Canada and the United States, just a straightforward artificial line. A long time ago, someone did it a lot of decades ago, and it didn't make sense.”
Rutt has not said the possibility of the United States threatening the borders of NATO members. Greenland is part of Denmark, another NATO ally, but is an autonomous field with its government.
“Canada is a sovereign state” and stressed the importance of historical bilateral relations, Trump told the senator at his confirmation hearing.
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Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford and federal officials met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington Thursday to discuss the way forward for trade and tariffs.
Canada-U.S. relations will also be discussed on the same day at a meeting of the G7 Foreign Minister in Quebec.
Canadian officials, including incoming Prime Minister Mark Carney, have repeatedly stressed that Canada will never be a member of the United States
Trump’s threat has also sparked a wave of patriotism among Canadians, with polls showing that nearly 70% of people believe Americans have less opinions due to the increase in tariffs.
Trump told reporters that despite Canadian officials’ visit on Thursday, he will not change his mind and waive tariffs, including a “reciprocity” duty that will begin on April 2.
World leaders of other allied forces declined to express concerns over Trump's threat to Canada's sovereignty.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused a reporter of “trying to find a gap that does not exist between us” when asked about the question at a press conference with Trump last month.
Starmer said the UK stands with its allies, directly in the UK Parliament, whether he will go to Canada “as soon as possible” to express his support.
He replied: “Canada is also a very important ally and in many cases I have spoken with our allies about the situation in Canada.”
In Greenland, where parliamentary elections were held on Tuesday, it is possible that new Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen rejected Trump's proposed acquisition, a view that most voters said.
“We don't want to be Americans,” Nelson told the UK's Sky News on Wednesday.
When the U.S. president tested the strength of the military coalition, Rutte met with Trump in Washington, prompting members to spend more money on defense and threatening to not meet the help of those who did not meet their spending commitments.
Canada's goal of at least NATO paying GDP to the Ministry of Defense for years is already insufficient. The federal government said it has a “clear and credible plan” to reach that threshold by 2032 or earlier, but has not released details on how exactly.
Trump said he hopes NATO's defense spending target will increase to 5% of GDP, which is currently at the level where no members (including the United States) are currently.
Rutt said he supports Trump's call for increased spending. He said members of the alliance need to produce more weapons on Thursday and lag behind Russia and China.
– Documents with the Associated Press
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