10/01/2026
US President Donald Trump has signaled a hardline shift toward the Arctic, warning that the U.S. will acquire the mineral-rich territory "the easy way or the hard way" to prevent Russia or China from seizing the strategic island and its massive deposits of rare earth elements, oil, and uranium.
Trump: "If we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we're not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor. Okay?"
"I would like to make a deal the easy way. But if we don't do it the easy way, we're going to do it the hard way."
"I'm a fan of Denmark...but, you know, the fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago doesn't mean that they own the land."
"NATO's got to understand that. I'm all for NATO. I saved NATO. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have a NATO right now."