Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed President-elect Trump’s idea of the U.S. owning Greenland, saying it’s “obviously” not going to happen.
“The idea expressed about Greenland is obviously not a good one, but maybe more important it’s obviously one that’s not going to happen, so we probably shouldn’t waste a lot of time talking about it,” Blinken said at a press conference in Paris.
When asked about Trump’s recent comments about acquiring Greenland, Blinken stressed the importance of supporting allies and strengthening alliances.
“I think one of the basic propositions we brought to our work over the last four years is that we’re stronger, we’re more effective, we get better results when we’re working closely with our allies, not saying or doing things that may alienate them,” he said.
Trump was questioned during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Tuesday about his recently targeting the Panama Canal as well as Greenland for possible American expansion, and was asked whether he would rule out using the military in those efforts.
“I’m not going to commit to that,” Trump said. “It might be that you have to do something.”
After he spurred the controversy, his eldest son Donald Trump Jr. took a day trip to the country. Greenland is currently a territory of Denmark but has pushed for its independence from the European nation. Denmark, however, has stressed that the island territory is not for sale.
The president-elect’s proposal has faced skepticism on both sides of the aisle.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, standing next to Blinken at the press conference, echoed the secretary of state’s remarks.
“Like Tony, I will put a question to you: Do we believe that the United States will take over Greenland? The answer is no,” Barrot said.
