On January 21, 2026, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, US President Donald Trump issued a thinly veiled threat to some of America’s oldest allies. Photo credit: Krisztian Bocsi—Bloomberg via Getty Images
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U.S. President Donald Trump assured nervous European allies on Wednesday that he would “not use force” to seize Greenland, while also issuing a mob-like threat that the world’s largest island would eventually come under the American flag no matter what.
“All America asks for is a place called Greenland,” Trump said in a wide-reaching appearance that cast a tone that ranged from Somalia fraud to former President Joe Biden’s mental acuity to his Treasury secretary’s football draft potential. The arrogance of a U.S. leader who conflated loyalty to his own agenda with averting World War III in Arctic orbit permeated his entire rhetoric. He accused Denmark, which controls Greenland as a semi-autonomous part of his kingdom, of being “ungrateful,” called NATO a one-sided ally of the United States and repeatedly painted Greenland as an “ungrateful” country. in fact Part of North America dates back to the Nazi era.
Still, one line stands out, as if it was dropped from the cutting room floor. good guy:
“We want a piece of ice to protect the world, but they won’t give it,” Trump said. “You can say Yes We will be very grateful. Or you can say No We will remember it. “
Another way to read familiar frames? We can do this the easy way or the hard way.
It was a puzzling move for Trump’s frenemies, who have lost patience with his bellicose language. At the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland – where alliance-building and global cooperation are often central themes – Trump presented the first Western Hemisphere school of thought, with its roots in a Cold War-era understanding of geopolitical stagnation.
He also sometimes confused Iceland and Greenland. “I’m helping Europe, I’m helping NATO, and up until the last few days, when I told them about Iceland, they loved me,” Trump said.
But he did tell them — about Greenland, not Iceland — and the reaction from those allies was anything but positive. In fact, they are almost unanimously hostile to Trump.
“Greenland is a vast, almost completely uninhabited and undeveloped territory that is undefended in a key strategic location between the United States, Russia and China,” Trump said. “It’s right in the middle. When we give it back, it doesn’t matter. We need it for strategic national security and international security.”
Trump, meanwhile, said force was not on the table.
“Unless I decide to use excessive force and force and, frankly, we’re unstoppable, we’re probably not going to get anything,” Trump said. “But I’m not going to do that. That’s probably the most important statement because people think I’m going to use force. I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I’m not going to use force.”
However, it is difficult to square this pacifist pledge with his oft-sworn commitment that the United States will eventually acquire Greenland. It’s this style of ping-pong messaging that has some diplomats gritting their teeth when they see U.S. imperialism threatening their borders. When Trump isn’t wielding the overwhelming power of the U.S. military and economy, he’s effectively denigrating all of the allies in the room with him.
“Most of the country wouldn’t even function without us,” Trump told the Swiss ski town’s elite.
Americans may like the idea of controlling their Arctic neighbors, but the idea of mob-style negotiations is hard to swallow. Trump knows this, but he still attacks with neocolonial fervor from the privileged pulpit of Switzerland. Trump says he won’t attack Greenland, but that doesn’t mean Greenland won’t be affected by his gangster-like whims.
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write to Philip Elliott: philip.elliott@time.com.
