Trump says US needs Greenland for international security

US president noted that Washington is “not relying on Denmark or anybody else to take care of that situation”

The United States needs Greenland to ensure international security, President Donald Trump has said.

“We need Greenland, very importantly, for international security,” he told reporters in the White House.

“If you look at Greenland right now, if you look at the waterways, you have Chinese and Russian ships all over the place,” Trump noted, adding that the US is “not relying on Denmark or anybody else to take care of that situation.”

“We have to have Greenland. It’s not a question of do you think we can do without it, we can’t,” he said.

“We’re not talking about peace for the United States. We’re talking about world peace,” the US president stressed.

Trump said on March 4 that he would approve of a decision of the people of Greenland to make this autonomous territory of Denmark a part of the United States.

The American leader previously stated that Greenland should join the US. He threatened to impose high trade duties against Denmark if it did not give up the island.

During his first presidential term, Trump offered to buy Greenland. Danish and Greenlandic authorities rejected the idea.