Donald Trump said he’s going to do ‘something on Greenland, whether they like it or not.’ 

The president was asked about what possible money would be offered to purchase the territory after Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly told lawmakers Trump’s intention was to buy it.

Trump told reporters Friday that he’s not ‘talking money’ with regard to Greenland yet but he may do so in the future.

‘Right now we are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland and we’re not gonna’ have Russia or China as a neighbor.’ 

The president said that he would like to make a deal ‘the easy way’ to acquire Greenland.

‘If we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way,’ Trump said, without explaining what the ‘hard way’ entailed.

He also added that he is ‘a fan’ of Denmark, just a day after Trump admitted that his own morality was the only limit to his global power. 

Denmark’s ambassador, Jesper Møller Sørensen, and Jacob Isbosethsen, Greenland’s chief representative to Washington, met on Thursday with White House National Security Council officials to discuss the renewed push by Trump to acquire Greenland, perhaps by military force.

The envoys have also held a series of meetings this week with American lawmakers as they look to enlist help in persuading Trump to back off his threat. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to meet next week with Danish officials.

Trump, in a New York Times interview published Thursday, said he has to possess the entirety of Greenland instead of just exercising a long-standing treaty that gives the United States wide latitude to use Greenland for military posts.

‘I think that ownership gives you a thing that you can’t do with, you’re talking about a lease or a treaty. Ownership gives you things and elements that you can’t get from just signing a document,’ Trump told the newspaper.

The U.S. is party to a 1951 treaty that gives it broad rights to set up military bases there with the consent of Denmark and Greenland.

Meanwhile, Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, told reporters that European leaders should ‘take the president of the United States seriously’ as he framed the issue as one of defense.

‘What we’re asking our European friends to do is take the security of that landmass more seriously, because if they’re not, the United States is going to have to do something about it,’ Vance said.

But the administration is starting to hear pushback from lawmakers, including some Republicans, about Trump’s designs on the territory.

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