(Corrected to remove Danish Presidency of the EU from disclaimer as Denmark no longer holds the Presidency, paragraph 3)
Jan 18 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Denmark could do nothing to eliminate the “Russian threat” in Greenland, saying: “The time is now and it will be done!!!”
“For 20 years, NATO has been telling Denmark, ‘The Russian threat must be kept away from Greenland.’ Unfortunately, Denmark can’t do anything about it,” Trump wrote in a post on the social media site he owns called Truth Social.
The White House and Denmark’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Trump has repeatedly insisted that he would only be satisfied with Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory.
Both Danish and Greenlandic leaders insist the island will not be sold and does not want to become part of the United States.
Trump vowed on Saturday to impose a wave of higher tariffs on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland.
Trump said incursions by China and Russia made Greenland vital to U.S. security interests. Danish and other European officials point out that Greenland is already protected by NATO’s collective security treaty.
(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
