Rubio on buying Greenland: ‘This is not a joke’

Rubio told Megyn Kelly Thursday that he plans to discuss the Panama Canal with Panamanian officials during his first overseas trip as secretary of state this weekend.
THE HILL | Published January 31, 2025

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during an interview that President Trump’s wish to acquire the Arctic island Greenland is serious and rooted in national security concerns for both the rest of the world and the U.S. amid China’s interest in the region.

“But this is not a joke, like what he’s saying is pretty accurate. People have been talking about it for years. This is not about acquiring land for the purpose of acquiring land. This is in our national interest, and it needs to be solved,” Rubio said during his Thursday interview with SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly. “President Trump’s put out there what he intends to do, which is to purchase it.”

Rubio asserted while China does not have a heavy Arctic presence, it is “realistic” to believe that Beijing would “install facilities that give them access to the Arctic with the cover of a Chinese company, but that in reality, to serve a dual purpose, that in a moment of conflict, they could send naval vessels to that facility and operate from there.”

In recent months, Trump has expressed interest privately and publicly in acquiring Greenland. He said previously that Denmark would eventually “come along” with the potential sale of the planet’s largest island, which is rich in rare minerals.

“We don’t want to be Danes,” Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Egede previously said on Fox News. “We don’t even want to be Americans. We want to be Greenlanders.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had a “fiery” call with Trump on Jan. 15 that devolved into a confrontation as the two discussed the president’s desire to buy the island.

“I wasn’t privy to that phone call, but I imagine the phone call went the way a lot of these phone calls go, and that is, he just speaks bluntly and frankly with people,” Rubio said on Thursday. “And ultimately, I think diplomacy, in many cases, works better when you’re straightforward, as opposed to using platitudes and language that translates to nothing.”

Rubio also said that if Greenland would come under assault by China, Denmark would not be able to deter the East Asian country.

“Denmark can’t stop them. They would rely on the United States to do so,” Rubio said. “And so his point is, if the United States is on the hook to provide as we are now, we have a defense agreement with them to protect Greenland, if it comes under assault, if we’re already on the hook for having to do that, then we might as well have more control over what happens there.”

This week, Denmark announced that it would bolster defense spending for the Arctic island with a $2 billion security package that contains long-range drones and new Arctic ships.

 

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SOURCE: www.thehill.com

RELATED: Marco Rubio declares Trump’s interest in Greenland and Panama Canal ‘is not a joke’


Rubio argued that US-control of the Panama Canal and Greenland is a vital US national security interest.
THE NEW YORK POST | Published January 31, 2025

Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Thursday that President Trump’s interest in taking control of Greenland and the Panama Canal “is not a joke” and vital to US national security interests.

“This is not a joke,” Rubio said during an appearance on SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show,” when asked specifically about the president’s comments about Greenland.

“This is not about acquiring land for the purpose of acquiring land,” the secretary of state continued. “This is in our national interest and it needs to be solved.”

Rubio, 53, downplayed Trump’s previous refusal to rule out using military force to acquire the territory controlled by Denmark.

“This is a businessman who’s involved in politics, not a politician involved in politics,” Rubio explained. “So he approaches these issues from a transactional, business point of view.”

“He is not going to begin what he views as a negotiation or a conversation by taking any leverage off the table.”

“He wants to buy it, he wants to pay for it,” the top US diplomat insisted.

Rubio explained that the Arctic Circle is going to become “critical for shipping lanes” as Trump expands domestic US energy production and that he fears Denmark won’t be able to stop China if the communist power sets its sights on Greenland.

“The Arctic has some of the world’s most valuable shipping lanes in the world … We need to be able to defend that,” he told Kelly.

“It is completely realistic to believe that the Chinese will eventually, maybe in the short term, try to do in Greenland what they have done at the Panama Canal and in other places, and that is install facilities that give them access to the Arctic, with the cover of a Chinese company,” Rubio continued, warning that the Chinese companies would serve “a dual purpose” and allow the US adversary to dispatch naval vessels in a moment of conflict.

Donald Trump
Rubio said President Trump is willing to “buy” Greenland from Denmark.Zuma / SplashNews.com

Rubio, whose first international trip as secretary of state will be to Panama this weekend, said he plans to discuss ownership of the US-built canal during his visit.

“I think the president’s been pretty clear he wants to administer the canal again,” the Trump Cabinet official told Kelly.

Rubio added that he believes Panama is in “violation of the treaty agreement” regarding the canal because Chinese companies are being allowed to operate port facilities on both the entry and exit points of the canal, as well much of the infrastructure that surrounds the key waterway.

 

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SOURCE: www.nypost.com

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