‘We Need It’: Trump Signals US is Coming for Greenland Next

Sergi Reboredo/VWPics via AP Images & Andrea Renault/STAR MAX/IPx

President Donald Trump suggested the next U.S. takeover target might be Greenland, telling The Atlantic’s Michael Scherer on Sunday that “we need it for defense.”

Trump called Scherer to discuss the American military action conducted on Friday night which resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

Scherer asked the president about Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments after Maduro’s arrest, in which he claimed that “the message here should be for the world” and warned nations “don’t play games.”

“When he tells you that he’s going to do something, when he tells you he’s going to address a problem, he means it,” said Rubio.

Considering Trump’s frequent statements detailing his desire to acquire Greenland– an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark– Rubio’s remark seemed to point directly towards the possibility of military action.

When asked about Rubio’s words, Trump stopped short of announcing official action, though he once again reiterated America’s “need” for Greenland.

“They are going to have to view it themselves,” Trump said of Greenland’s citizens. “I really don’t know. He was very generous to me, Marco, yesterday. You know, I wasn’t referring to Greenland at that time. But we do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense.”

At other points in the interview, the president claimed the island nation was “surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships.”

Trump’s words come a day after the Danish Ambassador to the United States Jesper Møller Sørensen called out Katie Miller– wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller– for her post echoing Trump’s sentiment.

Katie Miller posted a map of Greenland painted with the American flag, along with the word “SOON.”

Sørensen gave Miller a “friendly reminder” that Greenland “expect[s] full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark.”

Left wing lawmakers, Greenland residents, and government leaders in both Denmark and Greenland have constantly spoken out against Trump’s push for control of Greenland.

“We don’t belong to anyone else. We decide our own future. We must not act out of fear. We must respond with peace, dignity and unity,” Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in March.