US President Donald Trump has admitted that the United States may have to choose between trying to take control of Greenland and preserving the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. This emerged from a two-hour interview with The New York Times.
Asked directly whether winning Greenland was more important to him than maintaining the 76-year-old military alliance, Trump did not give a clear answer. However, he did concede that his administration may find itself in a situation where it will have to choose between the two goals, according to the newspaper. The topic has been particularly troubling for U.S. European allies in recent days, as Trump and his associates have sharpened their rhetoric about a possible takeover of self-governing Danish territory.
In the interview, Trump explained why he wants Greenland to be under US control: „Because I feel it's psychologically necessary for success. Ownership gives you things that you don't get just by signing a document. When you're talking about a lease or a contract - ownership gives you elements that a mere signature will never provide.“
At the same time, the US president openly questioned the binding nature of international law. In his words, he is guided only by his own conscience. „My own morals. My own mind. That's the only thing that can stop me.“ he said. When asked about international law, he added: „I don't need international law.“
European leaders reacted sharply to Trump's words. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen already warned on 5 January that a possible US invasion of Greenland would mean the end of NATO. „If the US decides to militarily attack another NATO country, then everything ends - including NATO and thus the security that has been built since the end of World War II,“ she said.
Also the French President Emmanuel Macron said in his annual foreign policy address on Thursday that Washington is „gradually turning away from some of its allies and breaking away from the international rules it itself had previously enforced“.
Trump, who has long been skeptical of NATO, this week again questioned his commitment to the alliance. He said he was unsure whether NATO would actually come to the aid of the United States in a crisis. „I doubt NATO would be on our side if we really needed them,“ he wrote on Truth Social. But he added that the US will continue to support its NATO allies.
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