Current United States ruler President Donald Trump has claimed that Denmark is not capable of adequately protecting its strategically important territory of Greenland. That would make a takeover by the U.S. military relatively easy.

Trump Will Not “Rule Out” Military Action To Take Greenland By Force

Earlier this month, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said that Copenhagen was planning to add two inspection vessels, two drones, and two dog sled patrols to its current force of 75 personnel, four ships, and a surveillance plane to the Arctic island.

While speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Saturday, Trump seemed to insult and ridicule the Danish plan to increase its military presence on the Arctic island. Denmark has also tried to remind the U.S. that it is an “ally.” Denmark has firmly rejected any suggestion that Greenland could be sold.

“I do believe Greenland, we’ll get – because it really has to do with freedom of the world. It has nothing to do with the United States, other than we’re the one that can provide the freedom. [Denmark] can’t. They put two dog sleds there two weeks ago, they thought that was protection,” he said, as quoted by the Financial Times.

Trump was apparently referring to an announcement by Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen earlier this month. He said Copenhagen was planning to add two inspection vessels, two drones, and two dog sled patrols to its current force of 75 personnel, four ships, and a surveillance plane.

Greenland Has Responded To Trump’s Acquisition Proposal

“I don’t really know what claim Denmark has to [Greenland], but it would be a very unfriendly act if they didn’t allow that to happen,” Trump said over the weekend. He also claimed that the “people [of Greenland] want to be with us.”

That’s a bit of a stretch, considering the response from Greeland has not been positive.

In an interview with FOX News on Thursday, Prime Minister Mute Egede addressed Trump’s renewed interest in “acquiring” Greenland from Denmark, citing national security concerns.  “We are close neighbors; we have been cooperating in the last 80 years, and I think in the future we have a lot to offer to cooperate with,” Egede said, insisting that Greenland would always be a part of NATO and “a strong partner of the U.S.”

“But we want to… be clear. We don’t want to be Americans. We don’t want to be a part of the US,” the prime minister emphasized. He said islanders “do not want to be Danes” either. “We want to be Greenlanders,” he added. –SHTFPlan

Continued rhetoric could always lead to conflict. Hopefully, that is not the case, and the U.S. can back off trying to expand its empire and ignite wars across the globe.