Trump says U.S. will not use 'excessive strength and force' of military to acquire Greenland

Donald Trump said the U.S. won’t use military force in its bid to acquire Greenland for “national security” reasons.

During his lengthy speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, Trump said the U.S. likely won’t be able to achieve its goal without employing “excessive strength and force,” which he said would be “unstoppable.”

“But I don’t have to use force, I don’t have to use force, I won’t use force,” Trump said.

The president broached the Greenland issue early in his speech and, despite repeatedly deviating to other topics, returned to it often.

He said he respects the people of Greenland and Denmark, but said “every NATO ally has an obligation to defend their own territory and the fact is no nation, or any group of nations, is in a position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States.

He went on to say that were it not for U.S. intervention in WWII, Greenland would have fallen to the Germans, remarking to the audience that they’d now be speaking German or Japanese.

More to come.

• 'Canada lives because of the U.S.,' Trump says during Davos speech. 'Remember that, Mark'
• Why France's Emmanuel Macron was wearing sunglasses at Davos

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