AOC warns European leaders how serious Trump is about taking over Greenland: ‘His threats are no joke’
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned European leaders over the weekend that President Donald Trump is serious about taking control of Greenland.
The progressive congresswoman appeared at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday, when she was asked on a panel that also featured Matthew Whitaker, the US Ambassador to NATO, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer about the United States’ policy regarding the Danish territory.
Ocasio-Cortez, who is believed to be positioning herself as a Democratic frontrunner ahead of the 2028 presidential election, began her response by lamenting Trump’s rhetoric.
‘It’s unfortunate, I guess, we have to speak to the elephant in the room that partisanship has made this question something that even has to be asked behind closed doors in the first place,’ she said.
The New York congresswoman then seemed to speak for the Democratic Party, which she said she knows ‘is here for our allies.
‘We are shocked by the president’s destruction of our European allies,’ she said, adding: ‘His threatening over Greenland is not a joke, it is not funny. It threatens the very trust and relationships that allow peace to exist.
‘And so I believe what I can say is that unequivocally the majority, the vast majority of the American people, do not want to see these relationships frayed and they are committed to our partnerships and our relationships and our allies.’
Ocasio-Cortez’s message echoed that of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who expressed her own concerns about Trump’s threats at the conference.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned European leaders over the weekend that President Donald Trump is serious about his threats to take over Greenland
The Trump administration has made acquiring control of Greenland a central tenet of his second term
The Trump administration has made acquiring control of Greenland a central tenet of his second term.
The president argues that Greenland provides the United States with a strategic location to stop Russia and China from taking over strategic positioning in the Arctic region, where they have already flexed their geopolitical might in recent years as the melting polar ice provides greater access to shipping lanes and natural resources.
Greenland, which houses NATO military bases, is also rich in oil, gold, graphite, copper, iron, and other rare earth elements.
The Trump administration has even suggested Greenland could provide infrastructure for a proposed Golden Dome missile defense system to protect North America from ballistic threats.
US officials are now meeting with their counterparts in Copenhagen to iron out a deal to help implement Trump’s vision for the Arctic region.
But Frederiksen said Friday she believes Trump is still ‘very serious’ about acquiring the land – which she said goes against ‘one of the most basic democratic principles’ of representing sovereign states.
‘Can you put a price on a part of Spain, or a part of the US, or a part of anywhere else in the world?’ she asked rhetorically.
The prime minister then argued that ‘The Greenlandic people have been very clear: they don’t want to become Americans.’
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she also believes Donald Trump is still ‘very serious’ about his desire to take over Greenland at the Munich Security Conference
Trump has argued that Greenland provides the United States with a strategic location to stop Russia and China from taking over strategic positioning in the Arctic region
Still, Trump is forging ahead with his vision.
He has already intensified pressure on the UK and other NATO allies as he framed the island territory as essential to both the US and its allies’ security and accused Copenhagen of negligence.
‘NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that “you have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland,”‘ the president wrote on Truth Social last month.
‘Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it is time, and it will be done!!!’
He even threatened Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland with a 10 percent tariff after they sent troops to Greenland, but backtracked after it led to the stock market crashing.
It now remains unclear what the exact terms of a final agreement between the US and Denmark may look like, despite Trump’s insistence last month that ‘We’re gonna have total access to Greenland. We’re gonna have all military access that we want.’
The US military already has multiple bases throughout the Danish territory with leeway to establish more in the future, according to multiple reports.
Denmark could now cede ‘small pockets of Greenlandic’ territory to the US where it could build bases.
