Trump says if Greenland is not taken by US, it will be taken by Russia or China: ‘We make money with the war’ | Today News

Having long mused about the United States taking control of Greenland for national security reasons, President Donald Trump said on Monday that if the U.S. doesn’t take Greenland, Russia or China will, as reported by ANI.

Greenland, with a population of around 57,000, is defended by Denmark, whose military is dwarfed by that of the U.S., which has a military base on the island. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that a US takeover of Greenland could signal the end of NATO, while Greenlanders have expressed that they do not want to be incorporated into the United States.

“If we don't take Greenland, Russia or China will take Greenland. And I am not going let that happen. I'd love to make a deal with them (Greenland). It's easier. But one way or the other, we're gonna have Greenland…,” Trump said.

Regarding his intentions to “take over” Greenland and the implications for NATO and the Ukraine conflict, U.S. President Donald Trump referred to the Russia–Ukraine conflict as “Biden’s war.”

The US president has faced difficulties in delivering on his promise to swiftly end the war in Ukraine and has expressed frustration with both Zelenskyy and Putin while attempting to mediate a conflict he claimed during his campaign he could resolve in a single day.

“We make money with the war, but I don’t even want to talk about that. I want to save lives. They’re Russian and Ukrainian lives. This is Biden’s war. It should have never happened. It would have never happened if I were president," he added.

Trump stated on Friday that the United States must take control of Greenland to stop Russia or China from occupying it in the future. He has frequently claimed that Russian and Chinese ships are operating near Greenland, a claim that Nordic countries have dismissed.

The U.S. is rushing to increase rare earth supplies from sources outside China during a one-year pause on stricter restrictions that Trump said Xi Jinping agreed to in October, AP reported.

Several companies worldwide are already producing rare earths or magnets and can supply them faster than Greenland, which Trump has threatened to take by military force if Denmark refuses to sell.

“Everybody’s just been running to get to this endpoint. And if you go to Greenland, it’s like you’re going back to the beginning,” said Ian Lange, an economics professor who focuses on rare earths at the Colorado School of Mines, as reported by AP.

The U.S. government has made direct investments in MP Materials, which operates the country’s only rare earths mine, as well as in a lithium mining company and a firm that recycles batteries and other products containing rare earths.

Scott Dunn, CEO of Noveon Magnetics, said these investments should help reduce China’s influence, but it remains difficult to shift the balance quickly since over 90% of the world’s rare earths are sourced from China.

“There are very few folks that can rely on a track record for delivering anything in each of these instances, and that obviously should be where we start, and especially in my view if you’re the U.S. government,” said Dunn, whose company is already producing more than 2,000 metric tons of magnets each year at a plant in Texas from elements it gets outside of China, AP reported.

Trump rejected that notion on Sunday, claiming credit for strengthening NATO by pushing member countries to increase their defence budgets. He said, “I’m not just someone who saved NATO. I’m the one who got them to spend 5.5% of GDP. It used to be 2%, and they weren’t paying. Now they’re paying 5%. I’m the one who saved NATO.”

“I like NATO,” he said. He then questioned “whether or not, if we needed NATO, would they be there for us? I'm not sure they would.”

In practice, NATO's Article 5, which considers an attack on one member as an attack on all, has been triggered only once—after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States—resulting in NATO’s military operation in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul will meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week, when he'll address the issue of Greenland and what role NATO can play in the region’s stability.

“Because security in the Arctic is becoming increasingly important, I also want to discuss on my trip how we can best bear this responsibility in NATO — in view of old and new rivalries in the region by Russia and China — together,” Wadephul said in a statement on Sunday. “We want to discuss this together in NATO.”

According to a report by the Associated Press, Imran Bayoumi, an associate director at the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Centre for Strategy and Security, said he doubted Trump would take control of Greenland by force because it's unpopular with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, and would likely “fundamentally alter” US relationships with allies worldwide.

However, this month's U.S. raid to capture Venezuela's leader, along with the administration’s increasingly forceful talk of possibly using military action to take Greenland, has pushed European leaders to quickly develop a strategy in response.

According to a report by Bloomberg, citing sources, Germany plans to propose the creation of a joint NATO mission to safeguard the Arctic.

Separately, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called on allies to strengthen their security presence in the High North and has recently consulted with leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on the matter, the report stated.