Donald J. Trump and his administration have repeatedly attacked NATO. During a press conference in Turkey with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Trump issued a threat dressed up as foreign policy.
Trump’s back on his Greenland obsession, this time claiming the island is “surrounded by China ships and Russian ships” and belongs to the US, not Denmark. Then came the part where he mused about pulling US troops out of Europe entirely, followed by a warning to NATO: “They better be careful.”
Nothing like threatening to abandon an alliance and annex an ally’s territory in the same breath. Real stable genius-y stuff.
What he said versus the truth:
“It’s surrounded by China ships & Russian ships” — False, and repeatedly debunked. Denmark’s own Joint Arctic Command commander told Reuters he hasn’t seen a single Russian or Chinese combat ship near Greenland in his two and a half years in the post, and vessel-tracking data hasn’t shown them there either. Trump’s made this claim before (dating back to January), and it’s been shot down every time — including by Iceland’s former president, who called it “not supported by facts.” There is Chinese and Russian activity in the broader Arctic and off Alaska, just not around Greenland specifically.
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