- Vice President Vance urged Europe to take Trump seriously on the Greenland issue.
- Trump considers Greenland crucial to US security and missile defense.
- The White House does not rule out the use of the US military to acquire Greenland.
US Vice President JD Vance on Thursday told European leaders to take President Donald Trump seriously on the issue of Greenland. Trump has long stated that the United States needs Greenland for its security. The White House declared on Tuesday that one of the options for acquiring Greenland is “always” the use of the US military. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
“I think my advice to European leaders and anybody else would be to take the president of the United States seriously,” Vance said at a briefing when asked about Greenland. The US vice president expressed his belief that Denmark and the rest of Europe are not doing enough to protect the strategically located island from the ambitions of Russia and China.
He called on European leaders to respond in particular to Trump’s claim that the US needs Greenland for “missile defense”. In this context, AFP wrote that Moscow and Beijing are intensifying their military activities around the island and the Arctic ice is melting due to climate change.
“So what we’re asking our European friends to do is take the security of this territory more seriously, because if they don’t, the United States will have to take action,” Vance said. “What that will be, I will leave up to the president while we continue diplomatic negotiations with our European friends and all those involved on this particular issue,” he added.
After the intervention in Venezuela, Trump reiterated that the United States needs Greenland for reasons of national security. His adviser Stephen Miller told CNN on Tuesday that the official position of the US government is that Greenland should be part of the United States. The White House says Trump and his team are discussing options for acquiring Greenland, and using the U.S. military to achieve that goal is “always” an option.
In connection with Greenland, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with representatives of Denmark next week. Rubio pointed out that the US is interested in buying Greenland, not conquering it militarily. According to the AP agency, the ambassadors of Denmark and Greenland already met with Trump’s advisers on Thursday.
