Whether the issue concerns Greenland or the Russia-Ukraine war, President Donald Trump said NATO members need to understand he "saved" the alliance.
"I'm the one who SAVED NATO!!!" Trump wrote Monday morning on Truth Social, echoing comments he delivered in a wide-ranging exchange with reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.
Pressed about Greenland, Trump doubled down on his argument that U.S. control of the mineral-rich Danish territory is essential to prevent strategic encroachment by America's rivals.
"If we don't take Greenland, Russia, or China will," he said, adding, "one way or the other, we're going to have Greenland."
Trump said he would prefer a deal but insisted ownership — not basing access — is what matters for long-term security in the Arctic.
Trump cast Greenland as a national security imperative amid expanding Russian and Chinese activity in the region, despite neither country formally laying claim to the island.
Denmark and other European allies have expressed alarm at Trump's language, while Greenland's leaders have repeatedly said the territory's future must be decided by Greenlanders.
Trump also brushed aside questions about whether his posture could strain NATO, arguing that the alliance's viability depends heavily on U.S. power and funding.
"I'm the one that saved NATO," Trump said, pointing to defense-spending demands he says forced allies to start paying more.
While NATO's longstanding benchmark has been 2% of GDP, Trump has urged allies to move to a far higher level, and reports around recent NATO deliberations have discussed a 5% goal as the political debate intensifies.
That pressure campaign is now colliding with a sharp European backlash to the Greenland rhetoric.
A European commissioner warned that any U.S. military takeover of Greenland would effectively be "the end of NATO," citing the catastrophic impact such a move would have on transatlantic relations and European defense obligations to Denmark.
At the same time, Arctic security is becoming a bigger NATO focus regardless of Trump's territorial demands.
Britain is in talks with allies on bolstering NATO's posture in the Arctic to counter Russia and China — an effort United Kingdom officials described as part of routine strategy discussions.
China, meanwhile, accused Washington of using other countries as a "pretext" to pursue its own interests in Greenland.
Trump also used the Air Force One gaggle to hammer former President Joe Biden over Ukraine, saying Biden spent "$350 billion" and "got nothing for it."
He added that his own approach is aimed at ending the war and recovering value for U.S. taxpayers.
AFP, Reuters, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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