Trump Negotiates "Total Access to Greenland Without Compensation"... Warns of Retaliation if Europe Sells Off U.S. Assets

In Fox News Interview, Trump Mentions "Permanent, Total Access"
"Big Retaliation If Europe Sells U.S. Assets... We Hold All the Cards"

President Donald Trump of the United States announced that he is negotiating with Europe to secure "total access" to Greenland. He also warned that if Europe responds to the conflict over Greenland by selling off U.S. assets it holds, the U.S. would initiate "big retaliation."

Donald Trump, President of the United States. Photo by AP Yonhap News

On January 22 (local time), during an interview with Fox News at the World Economic Forum (WEF, Davos Forum) in Davos, Switzerland, President Trump said, "Detailed negotiations are currently underway, but the core is total access to Greenland," adding, "This is not subject to a set deadline."

He explained, "This is not about signing a contract for a set period like 99 years or 10 years," and added, "Matters at the national level are handled from a much longer-term perspective." When asked what the U.S. would pay in exchange for such access, he replied, "There will be no need to pay anything."

President Trump emphasized, "The United States will secure all the military access it wants and will be able to deploy everything we need in Greenland," stating, "This is an issue directly related not only to national security but also to international security." He also mentioned the construction of the U.S. next-generation missile defense system, the "Golden Dome," and added, "Other than that, there is no need to pay additional costs."

This statement is interpreted as indicating that the negotiations are proceeding in a direction where the U.S. secures long-term access without compensation in exchange for deploying military infrastructure, including the Golden Dome, in Greenland.

The "total access" mentioned by President Trump is considered likely to be the main content of the "framework for future agreements" established the previous day between the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO reportedly explained that the purpose of this negotiation is to prevent Russia and China from expanding their influence in Greenland.

Regarding the Golden Dome, President Trump said, "It will be very groundbreaking," and added, "All systems will be made in the United States, at a level 100 times stronger than Israel's Iron Dome." He reiterated the need to build the Golden Dome in Greenland, stating that all threats "come from beyond Greenland." He went on to say, "This initiative is invaluable," and noted, "Former President Ronald Reagan had a similar idea in the past, but the technology was not available then. Now, we have technology that is hard to believe."

President Trump also stated that negotiations with Europe regarding the issue of annexing Greenland are "being very thoroughly reviewed," and added, "After announcing this (the previous day), I saw the stock market rise significantly."

Previously, he had announced that a framework for future agreements had been established with NATO regarding the issue of annexing Greenland, and withdrew plans to impose tariffs on eight European countries, which had been scheduled to take effect from February 1. He also ruled out the possibility of using military options to secure Greenland. As President Trump emphasizes permanent and total access without compensation, some analysts suggest that the U.S. may be shifting its strategy from pursuing ownership to a strategic approach in the previously controversial plan to annex Greenland.

Additionally, he issued a warning to Europe that if it were to dump U.S. assets it holds, it could face retaliatory measures.

Regarding the possibility that European countries might sell off U.S. assets in response to the tariff threats over Greenland, President Trump said, "If they do that, they do that," but added, "If such a thing happens, there will be big retaliation. We hold all the cards."

In the financial markets, there is speculation that European countries could sell off their holdings of U.S. stocks and Treasury bonds, estimated to be worth 10 trillion dollars, in response to U.S. pressure to annex Greenland. In this context, Denmark's pension fund AkademikerPension previously announced that, due to concerns about U.S. federal government debt, it would sell all of its 100 million dollars in U.S. Treasury bonds by the end of this month.