White House discussing "range of options" for acquiring Greenland, including U.S. military takeover by force, Leavitt says - CBS News
Category: News & Politics
Via: john-russell • 10 months ago • 16 commentsBy: Ed O'Keefe (CBSPolitics)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Washington — The White House said Tuesday officials are discussing a wide range of options for acquiring Greenland, including using the U.S. military to take it by force.
Senior administration officials are also discussing possibly acquiring Greenland from Denmark or forming a compact of free association, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Reuters was first to report these developments.
"President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it's vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region," Leavitt said. "The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. military is always an option at the commander in chief's disposal."
President Trump wants the issue settled before the end of his term.
The Danish Embassy in Washington had no immediate comment.
Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark, has once again become a point of heated international discussion, after White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told CNN on Monday it's "the formal position of the U.S. government ... that Greenland should be part of the United States," and after Mr. Trump this weekend said the U.S. needs Greenland.
Denmark has long rebuffed the Trump administration's interest in Greenland, reiterating that rebuke this week. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said an American military move to seize control of Greenland would amount to the end of the NATO military alliance. Denmark is a NATO member, and NATO's Article 5 states that if a NATO ally suffers an armed attack, all members will consider it an attack on them as well and do what they need to aid the attacked nation.
"If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops," Frederiksen told local media on Monday. "That is, including our NATO, and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War."
Mr. Trump insists Greenland is critical from a national security standpoint, although the U.S. already operates a base there.
The Greenland debate comes after the U.S. military entered Venezuela and captured Nicolas Maduro, and as Mr. Trump says the U.S. will run the country for now.
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This will blow before the end of his term.
I'd guess something will happen this year.
Since they only have 30,000 people, I assume they only have one city, which will promptly be named Trumptown.
There are many towns along the western shores facing Canada's Baffin Island.
The lower peninsula has a town and a ways up on the east Coast has a NATO base.
Last years population was about 56,000 without tourists or NATO.
Half way up the west coast the sea freezes in winter all the way round to the northeast coasts cutting many people off for the winter.
The center of Greenland is one gigantic glacier almost completely trapped by coastal mountains.
Stephen Miller said yesterday that Greenland only has 30,000 people.
Thats what I get for taking his word for it.
He's dumber than Trump if that's believable.
The problem is in the maps.
Trump is literally thinking that by taking Greenland he doubles the size of the USA.
You have to look at a globe map to appreciate how small and how far north Greenland is.
It is 85% uninhabitable and indefensible, which is why everyone has no problem with Denmark keeping it.
But look at it on a flat map and it looks HUUGE, larger than the USA.
The only country besides Denmark that would logically want Greenland should be Canada. they share Inuit communities older than either country.
... more maga imperialism. I wonder who the "law enforcement" action will be directed against there ...
I seriously think all he really wants is a place that will be renamed after him. The bigger the land mass the better.
US sewage treatment facilities take up a lot of land combined and the transition of saying taking a dump to taking a trump would be relatively easy ...
Who would of thought the United States would be the 'Evil Empire', besides any sane thinking person after watching all the shit Trump pulled during the first bad dream.?
gee, this might hurt the fascist-imperialists in the mid-terms, if we have still them ...
If we can make every Greenlander rich and buy Greenland for the cost of a few somali daycares, why wouldn't we?
I have a feeling that people who live all their lives in Greenland dont care much about getting rich. And we cant buy Greenland because it is not for sale.
Undoubtedly, the people of Greenland will feel much poorer living under a trumpist autocracy.
Why do you think that?
Offer every Greenlander 1 million dollars if they vote to sell the country. I'd bet you'd get a majority.
That would cost less than Gavin Newsom has lost to fraud in a single state.
Of course we should do that.
It would certainly be a bargain.
I doubt it, given their benefits? Unlikely.