WASHINGTON, March 13. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump believes that his country will annex Greenland, which is an autonomous territory within Denmark.
During a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump was asked about "potential annexation" of Greenland. "I think it'll happen," Trump replied.
"I'm sitting with a man that could be very instrumental," he said, referring to Rutte.
Trump added that the United States needs Greenland "for international security."
Trump has repeatedly asserted that Greenland should become part of the United States. The question of the island's independence - currently an autonomous territory within Denmark - has emerged as one of the central themes of the election campaign. Trump has threatened to impose high trade duties on Denmark if it does not relinquish control of the island. During his first presidential term (2017-2021), Trump proposed buying Greenland, a notion that was swiftly rejected by Danish and Greenlandic authorities.
Greenland is part of Denmark as an autonomous territory. In 1951, Washington and Copenhagen signed the Greenland Defense Treaty, agreeing that the US will defend the island from external aggression. The island hosts a US base, Pituffik Space Base, which plays a role in the missile warning system and surveillance of the Arctic region.