The United States will obtain sovereignty over land in Greenland where American military bases sit, President Donald Trump told the New York Post in an Oval Office interview on Friday.
“We’ll have everything we want. We have some interesting talks going on,” Trump said.
Following meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos and talks with NATO chief Mark Rutte,, Trump announced there was a “framework” for a deal.
The White House has not released a written plan, and no agreement with Denmark or Greenland has been announced.
Trump’s comments come after months of pressure over what he calls a matter of US national security in the Arctic, and he has repeatedly insisted he will settle for nothing less than ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. Greenland’s premier was quoted as rejecting any cession of sovereignty.
Trump insisted US needs ‘total access’ to Greenland at Davos WEF
While in Davos, Trump said he was negotiating with European officials to guarantee the United States' "total access" to Greenland.
During an interview with Fox News Business, he stated that the US must have a presence in Greenland for a "matter of national security."
"Everything comes over Greenland. If the bad guys start shooting, it comes over Greenland," Trump said. "It's pretty invaluable. It's amazing. You know, Ronald Reagan had the idea a long time ago, but we didn't have any technology at that point. The concept was great, but there was no technology. Now we have unbelievable technology."
Trump assured that the negotiations with the EU wouldn't necessarily represent a purchase by the US, but would require the US to have "total access" to the island. "I mean, we're talking about, it's really being negotiated now, the details of it, but essentially it's total access. There's no end, there's no time limit," he said.
Tobias Holcman and Reuters contributed to this report.