U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested Washington may be forced to choose between maintaining the NATO alliance and pursuing control of Greenland, escalating tensions with European allies over the Arctic territory.
Speaking on Thursday, Mr Trump said «it may be a choice» if the United States were to pick between NATO and Greenland, arguing that the alliance would be ineffective without US leadership.
«If you look at NATO, Russia is not at all concerned with any other country but us,» he said, adding that European allies needed to «shape up.»
In an interview with The New York Times, Mr Trump also claimed his personal sense of morality was the main constraint on his authority to deploy US military force globally.
«My own morality, my own mind is the only thing that can stop me,» he said, while suggesting international law was open to interpretation.
The remarks come days after Mr Trump ordered the operation that led to the removal of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, and amid renewed U.S. pressure over Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark and a member of NATO.
Denmark and Greenland have firmly rejected any proposal to sell or surrender the island. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that a military attempt to seize Greenland would effectively mark the end of NATO, a view echoed by several European leaders who said Greenland’s future can only be decided by its people.
