ABOARD
AIR FORCE ONE, Jan 12: President Donald Trump said Sunday the United
States would take Greenland "one way or the other," warning that Russia
and China would "take over" if Washington didn't act.
Trump says
controlling the mineral-rich Danish territory is crucial for US national
security given increased Russian and Chinese military activity in the
Arctic.
"If we don't take Greenland, Russia or China will, and
I'm not letting that happen," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One,
despite neither country laying claim to the vast island.
Trump
said he would be open to making a deal with the Danish self-governing
territory "but one way or the other, we're going to have Greenland."
Denmark
and other European allies have voiced shock at Trump's threats over the
island, which plays a strategic role between North America and the
Arctic, and where the United States has had a military base since World
War II.
A Danish colony until 1953, Greenland gained home rule 26
years later and is contemplating eventually loosening its ties with
Denmark.
The vast majority of its population and political
parties have said they do not want to be under US control and insist
Greenlanders must decide their own future -- a viewpoint continuously
challenged by Trump.
"Greenland should make the deal, because
Greenland does not want to see Russia or China take over," Trump warned,
as he mocked its defenses.
"You know what their defense is, two
dog sleds," he said, while Russia and China have "destroyers and
submarines all over the place."
Denmark's prime minister warned last
week that any US move to take Greenland by force would destroy 80 years
of transatlantic security links.
Trump waved off the comment
saying: "If it affects NATO, it affects NATO. But you know, (Greenland)
need us much more than we need them."
Reuters adds, it would be
the end of NATO if the US took Greenland by force and European Union
member states are under obligation to come to Denmark's assistance if it
was faced with military aggression, the European Commissioner for
Defence and Space said on Monday.
Trump has said the US must own
Greenland, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, to prevent
Russia or China occupying the strategically located and minerals-rich
Arctic territory, arguing US military presence there was not enough.
Both Greenland and Denmark have said that Greenland is not for sale but Trump has not ruled out taking it by force.
"I
agree with the Danish Prime Minister that it will be the end of NATO,
but also among people it will be also very, very negative," Commissioner
Andrius Kubilius told Reuters at a security conference in Sweden.
�"AFP, REUTERS
