Release date
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday announced plans to meet with Danish officials next week to discuss the Trump administration’s intentions to “take over” Greenland.
The White House has not ruled out using military force to seize Denmark’s autonomous Arctic island, although President Donald Trump reinforced the idea this week.
“Obtaining” Greenland “was always the president’s intention from the beginning,” Rubio told reporters, adding that he was “not the first U.S. president to consider or consider how to obtain Greenland.”
Denmark and Greenland had sought talks in recent days after President Trump and his advisers reiterated their desire to take control of the island, raising concerns following an unprecedented U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Tensions with NATO allies escalated after the White House said on Tuesday that “U.S. troops are always an option.” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned earlier this week that a US occupation would amount to the end of NATO.
Mr. Rubio was at the Capitol for a conference with the entire U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, where questions from lawmakers focused not only on Mr. Maduro’s detention but also Mr. Trump’s recent comments on Greenland.
Rubio did not directly answer a question about whether the Trump administration intended to jeopardize the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance by potentially pursuing a military option regarding Greenland.
“Purchase” rather than own?
“I’m not here to talk about Denmark or military intervention. I’m going to meet with them next week and I’ll have a discussion with them then, but I have nothing more to add,” Rubio told reporters, adding that every president retains the option of addressing national security threats to the United States by military means.
President Trump has argued that the United States needs to take control of the world’s largest island to ensure its own safety amid the growing threat from China and Russia in the Arctic.
Mr. Rubio told a select group of lawmakers that it was his administration’s intention to eventually purchase Greenland, not use military force.
The remarks, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, were made during a classified briefing at the Capitol on Monday night, said a person familiar with the remarks who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the private nature of the discussions.
The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom joined Frederiksen in a statement on Tuesday, reaffirming that the mineral-rich island, which protects the approach to North America from the Arctic and North Atlantic, “belongs to the people.”
video editor • Emma de Ruyter
Additional sources of information • AP