Trump: ‘We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not’

Government officials have also mulled sending lump sums of cash to Greenlanders in order to sway them to join the U.S., Reuters reported Thursday.

Asked on Friday how much those payments could be, Trump said, “I’m 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,” Trump said.

“Because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor,” he said.

Trump said that while he is a “big fan” of Denmark, “the fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago doesn’t mean that they own the land. [I’m] sure we had lots of boats go there also.”

“So we’re going to be doing something with Greenland, either the nice way or the more difficult,” he said.

The U.S. military already maintains a base in Greenland, and it reportedly has the ability to expand its presence there if desired.

But that isn’t enough, Trump said.

“When we own it, we defend it. You don’t defend leases the same way, you have to own it,” he said.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/09/trump-greenland-military-denmark-nato.html