Donald Trump on Greenland: 'You'll Find Out' His Annexation Ambitions

U.S. President Donald Trump says “you’ll find out” what he’s willing to do to annex Greenland as he departed for a Davos summit set to be dominated by fears over his expansionist ambitions. At a White House news conference meant to mark the first anniversary of his return to power, Mr. Trump also turned down a request from French President Emmanuel Macron to attend an emergency G7 meeting in Paris after the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. “You’ll find out,” Mr. Trump said when asked how far he is willing to go to acquire Greenland, the self-governing Danish territory that has repeatedly rejected his demands that it join the United States. In a series of Truth Social posts over the previous 24 hours, Mr. Trump stoked fears that he might seize the Arctic island via military invasion, an option he has repeatedly refused to rule out. In one AI-generated image posted to his account, Mr. Trump showed European leaders a map of the U.S. that showed it as having annexed Canada, Greenland and Venezuela. Invading either Canada, a NATO member, or Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, also a NATO member, would almost certainly end the military alliance that has underpinned Western collective security since the 1949. “I think something’s going to happen that’s going to be very good for everybody,” Mr. Trump said, without elaborating. Elsewhere during the news conference, the President claimed that “I’ve done more for NATO than anybody else, alive or dead.” Robyn Urback: On our sovereignty, Canada must assume Trump will pursue the riskiest, dumbest path possible Carney stands behind Greenland, criticizes Trump without naming him in blunt Davos speech During his spree of internet postings, Mr. Trump also posted a screenshot of a text message from Mr. Macron asking him to come to a G7 meeting in Paris to discuss Greenland and other subjects. “No, I wouldn’t do that,” he said Tuesday when asked if he would meet with Mr. Macron and other leaders in the French capital. “Because, you know, he is not going to be there very long.” Mr. Macron’s second term expires next year and he is ineligible to run for another one. Mr. Trump said he would “have meetings with the people who are directly involved,” and not Mr. Macron. The President has threatened to impose tariffs on European countries until the U.S. receives control of Greenland. He further threatened 200-per-cent tariffs on French champagne if Mr. Macron refuses to join Mr. Trump’s “board of peace” for Gaza. Mr. Trump insisted that he nevertheless has a good relationship with Mr. Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “I get along very well with them. They always treat me well. They get a little rough when I’m not around, but when I’m around, they treat me very nicely. I like both of them,” he said, before adding that both leaders have “got to straighten out their countries,” including by getting rid of windmills. Asked if another of Mr. Trump’s previous expansionist ambitions — taking back the Panama Canal — is still on the table, he replied “Sort of, that’s sort of.” The first hour and 20 minutes of the news conference was dedicated to a subdued Mr. Trump slowly flipping through images of people arrested by immigration agents in Minneapolis and then reading a list of his achievements from a binder. “I feel like God is very proud of the job I’ve done,” he said.