US President Donald Trump has said he has no intention of occupying Greenland by force, but in a speech in Davos, Switzerland, he stuck to his call for control of the Danish territory. He also hinted at the consequences if his ambitions were thwarted.
“People expected me to use force, but I don’t have to use force,” Trump said at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting.
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He later announced on his Truth Social platform that after talks with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, they had reached a “framework for a future agreement” on the territorial sovereignty of Greenland.
Although details of the framework are unclear, President Trump has agreed to lift tariffs he had threatened to impose on European allies starting February 1.
Here are the key takeaways from his Davos speech:
“Can I say a word about Greenland?”
President Trump tried humor at the beginning of his remarks about Greenland.
“I was going to take it out of the speech, but I think it was received very negatively,” he quipped.
After a lengthy criticism of Denmark for being too weak to protect Greenland, President Trump reiterated his key positions on the territory.
“We need it for strategic national security and international security. This huge insecure island is actually part of North America. It’s our territory,” he said.
President Trump went on to argue that no country other than the United States can secure Greenland, and that it is therefore imperative that European leaders hand over the autonomous island to American control.
President Trump said, “I am calling for immediate negotiations to re-discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States.”
He further said that the NATO alliance is a money sink for the United States and an alliance that has failed to provide any benefits to the United States.
“We asked for nothing and we got nothing,” Trump said.
The president’s comments do not acknowledge NATO’s support after the September 11, 2001 attacks, when the United States invoked the alliance’s collective defense clause and member states sent air defense forces in response.
Still, Trump continued to portray NATO as an uncontroversial investment, one that would only pay off if forced to do so.
“Unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, we probably won’t get anything. Frankly, we won’t be stopped. But I won’t do that,” he said.
“This is probably the biggest statement I’ve made because people thought I would use force. I don’t need to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”
Earlier this month, White House officials said President Trump was considering “a wide range of options” to acquire Greenland, including military action. At Davos, President Trump once again warned Denmark and gave it an ultimatum to hand over Greenland.
“We have never asked for anything else. And we could have kept the land, but we didn’t. So they have a choice. You can say yes, and we will be very grateful. Or you can say no, and we will remember,” he said.
Hours later, the US president announced the “framework” for the Greenland deal, but it is unclear how involved Denmark and Greenland were or what the deal would look like.
Rutte later told Fox News that the issue of Greenland’s sovereignty did not come up in the conversation.
“You follow us and you follow us up.”
Regarding the US economy and its global influence, President Trump said that the US is the engine of global growth.
President Trump said, “The United States is the economic engine of the planet. And when the United States does well, the whole world does well. That’s history.”
“When it gets bad, it gets bad,” he added. “You all follow us, you follow us, and we’re at a point where we’ve never been before. I don’t think we’ve ever been before. We never thought we’d be able to do it this quickly.”
President Trump, who will return to the White House for a second term in 2025, has said he expects economic improvement to take longer.
“The biggest surprise was that I thought it would take more than a year, maybe a year and a month, but it happened so quickly.”
He then turned his attention to Europe and offered a harsh assessment of the continent’s course. President Trump blamed the continent’s challenges on green energy and immigration-related policies, without providing evidence to support his claims.
“Certain places in Europe, frankly, are no longer recognizable. They are unrecognizable,” Trump said, repeating anti-immigrant rhetoric.
“I’d like to see Europe do well, but it’s not going in the right direction.”
Tariffs and trade deficits
President Trump has defended his heavy use of tariffs and other protectionist trade policies, crediting them with helping to chip away at the U.S. trade deficit and boost domestic production.
“With tariffs, we fundamentally reduced a ballooning trade deficit that was the largest in the history of the world. We were losing more than $1 trillion every year, and it was just wasted. It was going to be wasted,” Trump said.
“But I managed to reduce the monthly trade deficit by an astonishing 77% in one year. And I did all this without inflation, which everyone said was impossible,” he added.
President Trump also cited increases in exports, manufacturing and industrial capacity as evidence of the policy’s success.
“In the process, we have made historic trade agreements with some of the world’s largest companies and countries, partners that cover 40 percent of all U.S. trade. We also have countries that are our partners. European countries, Japan, South Korea, they are our partners too.”
President Trump says Venezuela: ‘It’s going to be great’
President Trump said Venezuela’s economy and oil sector suffered a steep decline due to past policies under socialist leaders such as Nicolas Maduro and the late Hugo Chávez.
But he predicted that the South American country is now poised for a rapid turnaround, thanks in part to cooperation with the United States and international energy companies.
President Trump has taken an active interest in governing Venezuela since the January 3 military operation to abduct President Maduro and extradite him to the United States to face criminal charges. He later acknowledged that the United States had extracted 50 million barrels of oil from Venezuela after Maduro’s ouster.
“Venezuela was a great place for many years, but then the policies got worse,” Trump said.
“Twenty years ago, this country was a great country, and now it’s in trouble. But we’re supporting them. And for that 50 million barrels, we’re going to split it with them, and they’ll make more money than they’ve made in a long time.”
Trump went on to praise Maduro’s former vice president, the interim government of Delcy Rodríguez, for supporting his ambitions in Venezuela.
“Venezuela is going to do wonderfully well,” President Trump said.
“Thank you for all the cooperation we’ve been given. We’ve been given a lot of cooperation. When the attack was over, the attack was over and they said, ‘Let’s make a deal.'” More people should do that. ”
He went on to predict a dramatic economic recovery for the oil-rich country, citing new foreign investment and support from major energy companies.
“Venezuela will make more money in the next six months than it has made in the last 20 years,” he said.
“All the major oil companies are working with us. It’s amazing. It’s beautiful to see. The leadership in this country is very good. They’re very, very smart.”
To the topic of energy
President Trump then turned to energy policy, emphasizing his changing position on nuclear power and repeating his long-standing criticism of renewable energy.
“We’re in full swing with nuclear development. I wasn’t a big fan because I didn’t like risk and danger, but the progress they’ve made in nuclear development is incredible, and the progress they’ve made in safety is incredible,” Trump said.
“We are very interested in the world of nuclear energy, and now we have access to nuclear power in a very safe and affordable way.”
His remarks followed a U.S. Department of Energy news release on Tuesday announcing that President Trump would “unleash America’s next nuclear renaissance” by expanding infrastructure to generate energy.
President Trump has also strengthened his personal business relationships with private nuclear power companies. In December, Trump Media and Technology Group, in which Trump is a majority shareholder, announced a $6 billion merger with fusion energy company TAE Technologies.
Although President Trump favors nuclear power, he has doubled down on his opposition to green energy initiatives to combat climate change. He called the efforts a “Green New Scam,” a play on the “Green New Deal,” and blamed Europe’s economic turmoil on efforts to introduce renewable technologies.
“There are windmills all over Europe. There are windmills everywhere, but they are losers. One thing I realized is that the more windmills there are, the more money the country loses and the worse the country does,” he told the Davos audience.
“Canada should be grateful.”
From the podium, President Trump also responded to remarks by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday.
Liberal Party of Canada leader John Carney encouraged world leaders to prepare for a future without American leadership, warning that the world’s “great powers” appeared to be abandoning “even the pretense of rules and values for the unhindered pursuit of power.”
Although Secretary Carney did not explicitly mention President Trump, it was clear that his remarks were directed at the American leader. Trump answered more directly during his turn at the Davos podium.
“Canada receives a lot of free gifts from us,” President Trump said.
“They should be grateful. But they’re not. I saw your prime minister yesterday, and he wasn’t all that grateful. Canada lives because of the United States. Mark, please remember that next time you speak.”
President Trump announces meeting with Zelensky
President Trump also spoke about the war in Ukraine and efforts to mediate between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“I’m negotiating with President Putin, and he wants a deal,” Trump said.
“I think I’m making a deal with President Zelensky and I think he wants to make a deal too. I’m meeting with him today. He may be in the audience right now.”
But posts on Mr Zelensky’s social media accounts showed the Ukrainian leader holding a meeting on Wednesday at the presidential palace in Kiev about the energy situation in the wake of the Russian attack. His office confirmed he was in Ukraine, not Davos.
Still, President Trump insisted he would work together to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, which began nearly four years ago in February 2022.
“They have to stop the war because too many people are dying needlessly. Too many souls are being lost. That’s the only reason I’m interested in it. But by doing it I’m helping Europe. I’m helping NATO,” he said.
“Those beautiful sunglasses.”
During his meandering speech, President Trump paused to tease French President Emmanuel Macron and mock the aviator sunglasses he wore to Davos.
“I saw him yesterday wearing those beautiful sunglasses. What the hell happened?” Trump asked.
Macron’s office said he wore sunglasses during his indoor speech to protect his eyes after a blood vessel burst.
