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Donald Trump has revived his calls for the US to take control of Greenland as he threatened to pull all American troops from Europe, potentially reigniting a crisis that posed the biggest threat to transatlantic unity on the eve of the Nato summit.
Trump’s longstanding desire to take control of the Danish-owned Arctic island is one of the biggest threats to the future of Nato, which has been cast into doubt by the mercurial US president’s regular attacks on European allies and warnings that he could refuse to come to their aid if they do not spend more on defence.
“We could remove all of our soldiers out of Europe,” Trump said as he sat alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday in Ankara.
“It continues to be that [Greenland] should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark.”
Trump’s threat to take control of Greenland from Nato ally Denmark in January — potentially by force — threw the eight-decade military alliance into disarray, led to counter-threats of a spillover transatlantic trade war and sparked a level of anti-US unity among European capitals not seen in generations.
The US president also tied the threat to his frustration over the unwillingness of European allies to “help” in his war against Iran.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told the FT in February that while she was glad that Trump had stepped back from that threat after negotiations involving Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, she believed the crisis had not been fully resolved. “We will try to see if we can find a solution . . . but I don’t think it’s over,” she said.
The US, Denmark and Greenland have been in technical-level talks since January, but officials briefed on the discussions said little tangible progress has been made.
“That’s what hurt my relationship with Nato, because Greenland doesn’t help Denmark. Denmark doesn’t spend money to really help Greenland, but it’s an important part for the United States,” Trump said on Tuesday, repeating his assertion that the Danish territory is surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships.
Nato declined to provide an immediate comment.
There are approximately 80,000 US troops throughout Europe, which Nato allies see as a critical plank of the continent’s defences, a deterrence against attacks and an embodiment of Washington’s commitment to come to their aid in the event of an attack.
Last month, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth announced a six-month review of America’s force posture in Europe, which could lead to further troop cuts on the continent.
In May the Pentagon said it would withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany and cancelled a planned deployment of a battalion with long-range weapons, including Tomahawk missiles.
Trump said that he was “testing” European allies with requests for support during the conflict in Iran, which is now in a ceasefire as Washington and Tehran pursue diplomacy.
“I was testing to see whether or not they’d be there, because I’ve long said that we help them, but I’m not sure that they’d be there for us,” Trump said, adding that Italy, Germany and France “turned us down”.
“Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars, and they’re not there for us, we’ve always been there for them?” Trump added.
Speaking alongside Erdoğan at the Turkish president’s compound on the eve of the annual Nato leaders’ summit, Trump said that he “was very disappointed with Nato”, adding that if the gathering were not being held in Turkey “where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it’s possible that I wouldn’t have attended”.
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