US President Donald Trump barrels into Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, and he is likely to use the World Economic Forum to escalate his push for acquiring Greenland despite European protests in the biggest fraying of transatlantic ties in decades. Trump, who marked the end of his turbulent first year in office on Tuesday, is expected to overshadow the annual gathering that global elites use to discuss economic trends in the snowy Alpine resort of Davos. Trump told a news conference on Tuesday he would have meetings about the Danish territory of Greenland in Davos and was optimistic that an agreement could eventually be made.
“I think we will work something out where Nato is going to be happy and where we’re going to be happy. But we need it for security purposes. We need it for national security,” he said.
Asked how far he is willing to go to acquire Greenland, Trump offered a cryptic response. “You’ll find out,” he said. In the days leading up to his visit to Davos, Trump has been unrelenting in making his case that “we need Greenland” as an Arctic security guardpost against Russia and China, and he has threatened a trade war with Europeans who oppose him.
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Emboldened by hisousting of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduroand seizing control of that country’s oil, Trump has talked about acting against Cuba and Colombia as well asIran. He has not ruled out the use of the US military to snatch Greenland, which has an American military base. Sources familiar with the situation have previously told Reuters Trump’s push on Greenland is related to a legacy-building desire to expand the territory of the US in the biggest way since 1959.
That was when two US territories — Alaska and Hawaii — became the 49th and 50th US states under Republican President Dwight Eisenhower. Nato leaders have warned that Trump’s Greenland strategy could upend the alliance. Trump has linked Greenland to his anger at not receiving a Nobel Peace Prize.
In a breach of diplomatic protocol, Trumpreleased the text of a private message he received from French President Emmanuel Macronin which Macron urged Trump to join him and other G7 leaders in Paris after Davos, an idea Trump dismissed. “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland,” wrote Macron. President Trump will unveil initiatives to drive down housing costs, tout his economic agenda that has propelled the US to lead the world in economic growth, and emphasise that the US and Europe must leave behind economic stagnation and the policies that caused it
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