White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday reiterated that President Donald Trump remains committed to "obtaining Greenland in whatever means we can" despite strong opposition from the island territory's leaders.
When asked in a White House press briefing on Monday morning for an update on Trump's plans for "obtaining" Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, and whether he will visit the island, Leavitt said, "I don't have any future foreign trips to read out for you — we just returned home from one," referring to Trump's Middle East trip last week.
"But the president maintains the reasoning for Greenland's strategic purposes in the Arctic and he continues to remain committed to the idea of obtaining Greenland in whatever means we can to advance our national security interests in the region," she added.
Trump previously said in an interview with NBC News that using military force to secure Greenland's territory "could happen" because the island is necessary "for national and international security."
He said: "I don't rule it out. I don't say I'm going to do it, but I don't rule out anything. No, not there. We need Greenland very badly. Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we'll take care of, and we'll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security."
Greenland's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, has repeatedly criticized Trump for his comments, saying that "the talk from the United States have not been respectful" in an April press conference.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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