Trump Never Threatened Greenland Invasion, US Envoy Says

US Ambassador to the European Union Andrew Puzder has said that Donald Trump's remarks on Greenland have been misinterpreted, telling an economic security forum in Brussels that Trump had never threatened to take the island by military force.

During his second term, Trump repeatedly raised the possibility of annexing Greenland, initially not ruling out the use of force. Puzder argued that these statements were intended to highlight the strategic importance of the Arctic island and should not be taken literally.

His remarks came a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress that Greenland was "for now" part of Denmark.

Trump ruled out a military invasion in January, after which negotiations began between the United States and Denmark on strengthening the US military presence on the island.

Puzder compared Europeans' reactions to Trump's remarks to the foam and coffee of a cappuccino. "Let's focus on the coffee and not on the froth", he said, adding that much of the discussion was, in his view, about irrelevant matters.

(politico, bak)