OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
9:35 AM – Wednesday, January 21, 2026
President Donald Trump told European leaders that he would not send troops to seize Greenland from Denmark during his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
On Wednesday morning, the president addressed a room of nearly 3,000 high-level participants from business and government for the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s annual summit.
“It’s the United States alone that can protect this giant mass of land, this giant piece of ice, develop it, and improve it and make it so that it’s good for Europe — and safe for Europe and good for us,” Trump said. “And that’s the reason I’m seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States. Just as we have acquired many other territories throughout our history.”
Trump provided background information about the United States’ relationship with Greenland, believing that it was “stupid” to return it to Denmark after World War II, as it is “a core national security interest for the United States of America.”
“What I’m asking for is a piece of ice, cold and poorly located, that can play a vital role in world peace and world protection,” Trump said, after explaining that were there to be a war between the U.S. and other large countries like China or Russia, a lot of fighting would be happening in Greenland.
“It’s a very small ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades,” he remarked, referring to his assertion that the U.S. has for years paid for “100%” of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
According to Trump, the U.S. has been treated “unfairly” by NATO and asked for very little since its formation in 1949.
“We never asked for anything and we never got anything. We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be, frankly, unstoppable,” the president mused. “But I won’t do that.”
He added, “People thought I would use force. I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”
He clarified that he is seeking “right title and ownership” of Greenland in order to defend it, because “you can’t defend it on a lease.”
The president also argued that Greenland was “costing Denmark hundreds of millions a year to run it.”
In addition to his inquiries about Greenland, Trump touted his economic success exactly one year and one day into his second term in office, stating that “without us, most of the countries don’t even work,” and emphasizing his hope that the European countries at the forum would learn from his policies.
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