President Donald Trump hosted NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House on Thursday, where he again endorsed foreign policy goals including taking control of Greenland.
During Thursday's meeting, the president explained to Rutte that the U.S. "needed" Greenland.
"You know, Mark, we need that for international security, not just security - international - we have a lot of our favorite players cruising around the coast, and we have to be careful," President Trump said. "We'll be talking to you."
Rutte replied that he did not "want to drag NATO into it."
Canada, President Trump repeated, ought to be made part of the U.S.
“To be honest with you, Canada only works as a state,” President Trump said Thursday, while discussing the tariffs he had directed the U.S. to place on Canada. “We’ve been ripped off for years,” he said. “We’re not going to bend."
Canada is a member of NATO and Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, which is a member of NATO.
President Trump has made the same comments since taking office, which has caused tension with U.S. allies. In the last two weeks he has threatened to absorb Canada as the 51st state, told Congressional lawmakers that the U.S. should own Greenland and on Thursday directed the military to draw up various plans to support the U.S. "reclaiming" control of the Panama Canal.
President Trump has also repeated anti-NATO sentiments since his election, claiming that other member nations aren't paying enough into defense spending.
Rutte said Thursday the European Commission has called for $874 billion in new defense spending by member nations.
"What’s happened the last couple of weeks is really staggering," he said.
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The meeting comes as the White House continues talks with Russia in hopes of securing a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, which President Trump believes could be the first step toward a permanent peace.
Russian President Vladimir Putin "put out a very promising statement, but it wasn’t complete,” President Trump said during the meeting. “Now we’re going to see whether or not Russia’s there. And if they’re not, it’ll be a very disappointing moment for the world.”
