Trump has revived the Greenland issue, stating before the NATO summit that the island should be under U.S. control and threatening to withdraw troops from European countries opposing this.
On Tuesday, 7 Jul 2026 GMT+7, President Donald Trump renewed U.S. efforts to take control of Greenland, signaling that the U.S. might withdraw all its military forces from Europe in response to European nations continuing to oppose this issue.
"This island territory should be under the control of the United States," Trump said shortly after arriving in Ankara, Turkey, to attend the NATO leaders' summit.
The 32 allied signatory countries, including Denmark—the owner of Greenland—faced a crisis in January after Trump demanded that the U.S. must control the island for national security reasons.
In a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday afternoon in Ankara, Trump expressed frustration that Europe's refusal to yield to his territorial expansion demands was "what is destroying my relationship with NATO."
"Greenland does not help Denmark at all. Denmark does not seriously spend money to support Greenland, but Greenland is vital to the United States," Trump told reporters.
"And it's surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships, which should not be happening. Those ships should not be there," he said, emphasizing claims about foreign military threats to this autonomous territory—claims experts on Greenland have previously rejected.
Trump added that Greenland "should be under U.S. control, not Denmark's, and since they won't cooperate, combined with all the money we pay to help them defend against Russia, we don't need to pay that anymore."
"We can withdraw all our troops from Europe," he stressed. "As you may have noticed, Europe today is very different from 20 years ago."
"And they should be careful," Trump continued, referring to Europe in general, "especially regarding immigration and energy. If they're not careful about these two issues, there will be nothing left of Europe."
He then ended the press conference segment open to journalists.
Trump's statements have thrust Greenland—a massive Arctic island with a sparse population and mostly ice-covered terrain—back into the global political spotlight.
The U.S. president's attempt to acquire Greenland became a heated dispute between the U.S. and Europe earlier this year, triggered by Trump's repeated claims that the U.S. must buy the island, while Greenland's parliamentary members insisted the island is not for sale.
However, Trump, who had previously not ruled out using military force to annex Greenland, suddenly announced that he and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had jointly developed a "future framework agreement" related to the territory.
Since then, a task force made up of representatives from the U.S., Denmark, and Greenland has met to find a way forward. Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Denmark's Foreign Minister, said at the end of June that the task force expects to reach a joint conclusion by the end of the year.
When asked about Trump's recent statements on Greenland, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö responded, "Act like Arctic people—stay calm. If it's about Arctic security, seven of our allied countries are already Arctic nations."
He added, "Finland has trained one million soldiers in Arctic conditions, and basically, we live in an Arctic environment. Please be aware of this, and it would be better to let the negotiation process among Danes, Americans, and Greenlanders continue."
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Source:cnbc