Trump says he won’t use force to acquire Greenland in Davos address

President Donald Trump insisted he won’t use force to acquire Greenland in a speech at the World Economic Forum, where he said that the U.S. is booming but Europe is “not heading in the right direction.” His ambitions to wrest control of Greenland from NATO ally Denmark threaten to tear apart relations with many of Washington’s closest allies.

His arrival in in the Swiss Alps community of Davos was delayed after a minor electrical issue aboard Air Force One had forced a return to Washington to switch aircraft, but it wasn’t expected to push back his scheduled keynote speech.

What to know

The WEF and Davos: The forum is a think tank and event organizer based in Geneva whose main event — the annual meeting — debuted in 1971 in Davos, a ski-resort town of about 10,000 people. Since then, the meeting has swelled into a catch-all conference on issues as diverse as economic disparity, climate change, technology, and global cooperation — as well as competition and conflict.

Who’s there? Organizers said a record of nearly 400 top political leaders, including more than 60 heads of state and government, and nearly 850 chairs and chief executives of many of the world’s leading companies.

What’s different this year? The geopolitical context has become incredibly complex this year: Trump’s pronouncements and policies on subjects as diverse as Venezuela, Greenland and Iran — not to mention his aggressive tariff policies — have upended the world order and raised questions about America’s role in the world.

Trump says he won’t use force to acquire Greenland

It is the first time Trump has ruled out using force, having previously been vague about how far he is willing to go in his push.

The president said the U.S. “probably won’t get anything” unless he decided to “use excessive strength and force” that he said would make the U.S. “frankly unstoppable.”
“But I won’t do that. Okay?” Trump said.

He added a minute later: “I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”

Trump calls Greenland a strategic piece of ice that US must take

“We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won’t give it,” Trump said in Davos speech.

“You can say yes and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no and we will remember.”

Trump lashes out at Denmark over Greenland

Trump called for “immediate negotiations” for the U.S. to acquire Greenland from Denmark during his speech at Davos.

The president also lashed out at Denmark for being “ungrateful” for the U.S. protection of the Arctic island during World War II and continued to make his case that the U.S. needs to control the island for the sake of national security.

“This enormous unsecured island is actually part of North America,” Trump said. “That’s our territory.”

Trump blasts Denmark for insufficient military spending on Greenland

Trump asserted that Denmark promised to spend “over $200 million to strengthen Greenland’s defenses” and then insisted it has “spent less than 1% of that.”
He was referring to a 2019 commitment from the Danish government, made during Trump’s first presidency, when he first floated the idea of the U.S. taking control of the semiautonomous territory of Denmark.

Copenhagen has not disputed that the implementation of that commitment has been slow.

In recent weeks, with Trump pushing the U.S. takeover again, Denmark’s Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen unveiled an expanded defense plan with a $2 billion budget that includes three new ships, long-range drones and more satellite capacity.

Trump did not mention that latest commitment.

Trump says Greenland push is not about the need to secure sought-after rare earth elements

The president cited the difficulty of mining on the Arctic island.

“You got to go through hundreds of feet of ice,” he said. That’s not the reason we need it.”

Instead, he said the U.S. needs it for “strategic national security and international security.”

Greenland is the object of Trump’s desire, but he keeps calling it Iceland

At least four times in his remarks at Davos so far, Trump has referred to Greenland as “Iceland.”

“They’re not there for us on Iceland that I can tell you,” Trump said of NATO partners. “I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland, so Iceland’s already cost us a lot of money.”

He also did that a day earlier during a marathon news conference at the White House.

Trump goes after Europe

Within 20 minutes of starting his speech, Trump had already criticized Europe several times.

He said he was European in heritage and wants to see it do well, but argued European countries are “destroying themselves.”

On windmills, immigration and trade, he tore into the continent, while many of its leaders were in his presence at the conference.

“Certain places in Europe are not even recognizable,” he said. “Here in Europe, we’ve seen the fate that the radical left tried to impose upon America.”

Trump says Europe is heading in the wrong direction

The president echoed criticisms he had made of Europe in his United Nations address last year and his administration’s latest national security statements.

“I love Europe and I want to see Europe go good, but it’s not heading in the right direction,” he said.

Trump blasts wind energy, criticizing China and Europe in one swipe

Windmills are “all over Europe” and are “losers” bought by “stupid people,” the U.S. president said.

He made it clear that it was European nations that were the “stupid people” buying windmills from China.

It’s part of his broad claims about energy. Trump is promoting oil and coal, traditional fossil fuels, and nuclear energy, while blasting newer, cleaner energy sources.

Calling windmills “those damn things,” he renewed his critiques that they “kill the birds” and “ruin the landscapes.”

Trump mused that China owns the international windmill market but doesn’t use them within its borders.

Trump says Venezuelan oil industry will do ‘fantastically well’ with US help

Trump reiterated that he’s getting cooperation from Venezuelan officials following the ouster of Nicolás Maduro and predicted good times for the South American country’s economy.

“Every major oil company is coming in with us,” Trump said. ‘It’s amazing.”

Earlier this month, at a White House meeting, Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods said the Venezuelan market is “un-investable” in its current state.

Trump taunts Canada

Trump needled his northern neighbor after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday that the current phase of global diplomacy was a “rupture” and called for “middle powers” to “act together.”

Trump said Canada gets many “freebies” from the U.S. and “should be grateful.”

He said Carney’s Davos speech showed he “wasn’t so grateful.”

“Canada lives because of the United States,” Trump said. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”

Trump brags on U.S. economy

Trump touted economic growth in the U.S., using many of his characteristic superlatives that exaggerate circumstances on the ground.

“The USA is the economic engine on the planet,” Trump said. “You all follow us down, and you follow us up.”

Trump credited his tariff policies, which allies have harshly criticized ahead of his arrival at Davos. The president has also repeated his false claims that he inherited record inflation and has completely eliminated it.

His economic framing is similar to how he reviewed his first year back in power in a lengthy White House press briefing Tuesday before he traveled to Europe.

Trump defiant about his results at the one-year mark

In the first part of his Davos speech, Trump touted America’s finances and living standards, which he said he achieved against expectations.

“Virtually all of the so-called experts predicted my plans to end this failed model would trigger a global recession and runaway inflation,” he said. “But we have proven them wrong.”

Trump said he wanted to spend the day discussing “how we have achieved this economic miracle” and suggested, as he did from the White House yesterday, that other countries in attendance could learn from his success.

Once again, Trump falsely insists the 2020 election was ‘rigged’

Before the audience in Davos, Trump repeated a claim he’s said before that the Russian war on Ukraine “wouldn’t have started” if the 2020 U.S. presidential election “weren’t rigged.”

One thing is for certain: The 2020 election was not stolen. Biden earned 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. Trump’s allegations of massive voting fraud have been broadly refuted.

Trump, who has long been calling for prosecutions related to the 2020 election, added that “people will soon be prosecuted for what they did.” It wasn’t immediately clear what he meant.

Trump says he will meet Ukrainian president

Trump says he’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday.

The meeting was not on Trump’s publicly released calendar and it was not clear if he meant a virtual or in-person meeting.

Zelenskyy is not believed to be in Davos.