Donald Trump said the United States should claim sovereignty over Greenland and warned NATO members that the U.S. could withdraw all troops from Europe.
These statements signal a potential shift in American foreign policy and a willingness to dismantle long-standing security commitments to European allies. The rhetoric suggests a strategy of using territorial claims and military leverage to pressure NATO members into changing their contributions or structures.
Trump said these assertions during a NATO summit held in Ankara, Turkey, on July 7–8, 2026 [1]. He expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of the alliance, using the Greenland claim to signal his readiness to reduce military commitments on the continent.
During the event, Trump said the U.S. should possess the territory and stated, "Europe from all American military soldiers can be withdrawn," according to reports from TBS NEWS DIG [2]. The former president used the platform to caution member nations about the fragility of U.S. support if his conditions for the alliance are not met.
The summit also featured contributions from other world leaders addressing the necessity of the alliance. Volodymyr Zelenskyy questioned the feasibility of nations with high defense capabilities surviving outside of the NATO framework, asking if it was truly correct for such countries to exist outside the organization [2].
Trump's focus on Greenland is not a new development, but his repetition of the claim at a formal summit in Turkey underscores a persistent desire to expand U.S. strategic interests in the North Atlantic. This approach combines territorial ambition with a threat to remove the primary security umbrella that has protected Western Europe since the Cold War.
“the United States should claim sovereignty over Greenland”
Trump's rhetoric represents a transactional approach to geopolitics, where traditional alliances are treated as negotiable contracts rather than permanent strategic partnerships. By linking the potential acquisition of Greenland with the threat of a total military withdrawal from Europe, he is signaling a 'maximum pressure' campaign intended to force NATO members to increase their spending or concede to U.S. territorial and political interests.
