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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump reignited his call for the United States to control Greenland, threatening to remove American soldiers from European nations over the issue, as the 2026 NATO summit got underway in Ankara on July 7.Trump reiterated his position that Greenland is vital for U.S. security during a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after an earlier push from Trump to acquire the semi-autonomous territory from Denmark set off a NATO crisis in January."That's what hurt my relationship with NATO," Trump said in response to a reporter's question about Greenland. "Because Greenland doesn't help Denmark. Denmark doesn't spend money to really help Greenland, but it's an important part for the United States, and it's surrounded by China ships and Russian ships, and that's not going to happen."Referring to Greenland, Trump added: "That should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark."Trump took NATO to the brink of disaster in January before he eventually ruled out military action to acquire Greenland and pulled back threats to impose tariffs on European allies. Tensions deescalated after Trump announced the "framework of a future deal" with NATO, Denmark and the Arctic region on security matters.Trump's Greenland talks died down over the following months, yet Trump introduced a new threat at the NATO summit in Turkey: removing U.S. soldiers from Europe over the continent's opposition."With all the money we spend to help them with Russia ‒ and we don't have to spend any money ‒ we could remove all of our soldiers out of Europe, because, as you probably noticed, Europe's a very different place than it was 20 years ago, a lot different, much different."They better be careful with immigration and energy," he warned "If they're not careful with those two things, you're not going to have a Europe anymore."The United States has about 68,000 active-duty military personnel stationed in European countries. In May, the Trump administration announced the withdrawal of 5,000 US. troops from Germany in an apparent response to Chancellor Friedrich Merz's criticism of the U.S. war in Iran.Greenland not for sale, Denmark says in responseDanish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, speaking at the NATO summit hours after Trump's remarks, said she expected allies to respect the sovereignty of the Danish kingdom and accept that Greenland was not for sale."It is a well-known position of the United States that it wants to own and take over Greenland. I hope that it is equally well-known everywhere that this is not going to happen," Frederiksen said, adding that Denmark has no plans to discuss Arctic or Greenland issues in Ankara.Greenland's government has also repeatedly said the territory is not for sale. Múte Egede, Greenland's foreign minister, in a statement said Greenland's future should be decided by its people. "That's how it has always been. And that's how it always will be," he said.Trump renews criticism of NATO over Iran warDuring his meeting with Erdoğan, Trump also criticized European NATO members for not supporting the U.S. war in Iran or offering their military assistance. The two sides remain in a ceasefire as Trump officials work to secure agreements from Iranian leaders to disband its nuclear program and highly enriched uranium."We didn't need any help at all, and in a way I was testing people," Trump said. And in a way, I'm assessing people. I was testing to see whether or not they'd be there. Because I've long said that we helped them, but I'm not sure that they'd be there for us. And Italy turned us down. And Germany turned us down. And France turned us down."And that's OK," Trump said. "But why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars and they're not there for us? We've always been there for them."Contributing: ReutersReach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
