President Donald Trump said military action in either case is unlikely, but said he’s less certain about Greenland.
President Donald Trump on May 4 ruled out using military force to annex Canada, but said he wasn’t ruling the possibility out in the case of Greenland.
During an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” anchor Kristin Welker asked Trump whether he would rule out military force against Canada. Trump replied, “I think we’re not going to ever get to that point. Something could happen with Greenland. I’ll be honest, we need that for national and international security.”
“But not with Canada?” Welker asked.
“It’s highly unlikely,” Trump replied, laughing. “I just don’t see it with Canada, I have to be honest with you.”
Trump said that action against Greenland was also unlikely, but added he could see circumstances where he would be open to it.
“I don’t rule it out. I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything,” Trump said.
“We need Greenland very badly … for international security,” he added, promising that the United States would “cherish” the “very small amount of people” currently inhabiting the Arctic mega-island.
“We have Russian boats and we have Chinese boats, gun ships all over the place—aircraft carriers, gun ships—going up and down the coast of Greenland. We need that to be protected. Internationally, we need it.”
Canada
Following his election in November, Trump stirred the international community after he expressed interest in reclaiming U.S. control over the Panama Canal, obtaining control of Greenland, and potentially absorbing Canada as the 51st state.
After the election in meetings with then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump referred to Trudeau as “Governor … of the Great State of Canada.”
During the interview, Trump maintained that he was serious about the proposal and believed it would be to both countries’ benefit.
Asked whether he would discuss the prospect of adding Canada to the United States with newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump replied, “I’ll always talk about that.”
“If Canada was a state it wouldn’t cost us. It would be great,” he said.
Speaking about a hypothetical map after a U.S.–Canada merger, Trump said, “I’m a real estate guy at heart. When I look down at that [map] without that artificial line that was drawn with a ruler many years ago … What a beautiful country it would be.”
By Joseph Lord
