Trump says he’ll get deal on Greenland, ‘easy way’ or ‘hard way’

Asked if he was considering making a financial offer to the people of the island to entice them to join the US, Trump said he was “not talking about money for Greenland yet.”

• Trump says US may secure Greenland "the hard way" if a deal can't be reached
• Trump claims US action needed to prevent Russia or China from gaining influence
• Danish PM warns US attack on Greenland would end NATO alliance

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President Donald Trump ramped up his rhetoric over Greenland, saying he’s willing to secure the territory “the hard way” if authorities are unwilling to cut a deal for the US to take over the island.

“I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way,” Trump told reporters Friday at the White House.

While Trump has long mused about making Greenland a part of the US, claiming the Danish territory as a national security imperative, his focus on the island has intensified in recent days following an audacious US raid to capture the leader of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro. That action has sparked new fears among allies over Trump’s willingness to deploy the US military to achieve his foreign policy goals.

Asked if he was considering making a financial offer to the people of the island to entice them to join the US, Trump said he was “not talking about money for Greenland yet.”

“I might talk about that, but right now, we are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not,” he said. Trump said if the US did not act on the Danish territory, top geopolitical rivals Russia and China would do so.

“We’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor,” Trump said.

Trump’s remarks about Greenland have roiled ties with Denmark, a NATO member, and other nations in the military alliance. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen this week said an attack by the US on Greenland would mean the end of the NATO alliance. European leaders have also urged Trump to respect the island’s territorial integrity and said it falls under the bloc’s collective security umbrella.

While Trump has declined to rule out military force to seize Greenland, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday told lawmakers that the aim is to buy the island. Rubio has said he will met with Danish officials about Greenland next week.