US President Donald Trump ruled out the use of force in his bid to control Greenland on Wednesday, but said in a speech in Davos that no other country can secure the Danish territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople thought I would use force, but I don\u2019t have to use force,\u201d Trump said at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to use force. I won\u2019t use force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump took a hectoring tone, chastising the United States\u2019 European allies for their insolence, disloyalty and policy missteps in areas ranging from wind power and the environment to immigration and geopolitics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s increasing threats to Europe over Greenland have frayed transatlantic ties and worried Europeans, overshadowing a speech that was intended to focus primarily on the US economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Calling Denmark \u201cungrateful,\u201d the Republican US president played down the issue as a \u201csmall ask\u201d over a \u201cpiece of ice\u201d and that an acquisition would be no threat to the Nato alliance, which includes Denmark and the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States,\u201d Trump said, adding: \u201cI\u2019m seeking immediate negotiations to once again to discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On several occasions during a speech that lasted more than an hour, Trump mistakenly referred to Greenland as Iceland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump, who marked the end of a turbulent first year in office on Tuesday, is set to overshadow the agenda of the WEF, where global elites chew over economic and political trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nato leaders have warned that Trump\u2019s Greenland strategy could upend the alliance, while the leaders of Denmark and Greenland have offered a wide array of ways for a greater US presence on the strategic island territory of 57,000 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won\u2019t give it,\u201d Trump said in his speech to a packed congress hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hundreds of delegates gathered in the lobby to listen or watch Trump\u2019s speech on video monitors or on mobile phones. After an hour, most of them had tuned out and resumed chatting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US President Donald Trump ruled out the use of force in his bid to control Greenland on Wednesday,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n