Why Donald Trump wants to acquire Greenland following major military threat to country
Donald Trump's first 100 days in office have been far from quiet, but one of the president's most surprising decisions is undoubtedly the confirmation that he wants the US to acquire Greenland.
It was back in January that the 78-year-old first announced his plans to takeover the European country, which is currently home to around 56,000 people.
The autonomous territory currently belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark and it was a 'horrific' phone call with Danish president Mette Frederiksen which first revealed just why the US are so desperate to take over Greenland.
While one Danish minister told the republican leader to 'f**k off', Greenland's Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede had a slightly more eloquent response, although the sentiments remained the same - Greenland is 'not for sale'.
Advert
'We're talking about world peace'
Speaking back in March, Trump spoke about his desire for the US to acquire Greenland for reasons that would lead to 'world peace'.
He said: "It's not a question of, 'Do you think we can do without it?' We can't.
"If you look at Greenland right now, if you look at the waterways, you have Chinese and Russian ships all over the place, and we're not going to be able to do that.
"We're not relying on Denmark or anybody else to take care of that situation and we're not talking about peace for the United States. We're talking about world peace. We're talking about international security.
"And right now you look at it, you have warships all over the place going through, right along Greenland."
Trump's military threat to Greenland
However, the president's plans have been thrust back into the limelight after he issued a potential military threat to the country and its people.
During a NBC interview discussing his time back in the Oval Office, Trump admitted to host Kristen Welker that using military force could potentially be an option.
He said: "I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything. No, not there. We need Greenland very badly. Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security."
He later seemed to go back on his word slightly before providing the similarly vague reasoning as to why he wants to acquire Greenland for good.
“Well, I think we're not going to ever get to that point. It could happen. Something could happen with Greenland. I'll be honest, we need that for national and international security."
What is Russia's involvement in the US' need for Greenland?
Experts have given more of an explanation as to why, and it seems to be that if Russia were to send missiles towards the US as part of the ongoing political tensions across the world, then having a base in Greenland or the North Pole would provide the US with the shortest route to respond with nuclear weapons of their own.
Given J.D Vance has already received a pretty frosty response upon his visit to Greenland, it seems clear that the country's residents would never accept new American leaders, as much as Trump believes it would benefit the whole world.
Topics: World News, US News, Donald Trump, Europe, Politics
James Moorhouse