President Donald Trump’s contention that forceful measures must be in place to protect the Arctic region was seconded Wednesday by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Trump has said that American ownership of Greenland is essential to providing security. Denmark, which controls the island, does not want to part with it, leading to an escalating war of words and threats of economic consequences.
Rutte spoke during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Trump spoke to the group later on Wednesday.
“When it comes to the Arctic, I think President Trump is right,” Rutte said in a video posted to X. “Other leaders of NATO are right.”
“We need to defend the Arctic. We know that the sea lanes are opening up. We know that China and Russia are increasingly active in the Arctic,” he said.
“There are eight countries bordering the Arctic. Seven are members of NATO,” he said, listing Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Canada, and the United States.
The only nation with an Arctic border outside of NATO is Russia, he said.
“And I would argue there is a ninth country, which is China, which is increasingly active in the Arctic region,” he said.
As noted by Time, Trump said Greenland should be part of America.
“Without us, right now you’d all be speaking German and Japanese, perhaps,” Trump said during his remarks, referring to World War II.
“After the war, we gave Greenland back to Denmark. How stupid were we to do that, but we did it, but we gave it back. But how ungrateful are they now?” he said.
“This enormous unsecured Island is actually part of North America, on the northern frontier of the Western Hemisphere,” Trump said. “That’s our territory.”
