When President Donald Trump on Wednesday doubled down on his push for the US to acquire Greenland, he appeared to confuse it with Iceland multiple times.
Trump gave a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos Jan. 21 to address increasing international tensions amid recent discussions by the U.S. to annex Greenland, a self-governing territory that’s part of Denmark. He mistakenly referred to the significantly smaller Iceland, an independent island nation located about 200 miles away in the North Atlantic.
“They’re not there for us on Iceland, that I can tell you,” Trump said in his speech, referring to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. “I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland has already cost us a lot of money. But that dip is peanuts compared to what it’s gone up.”
At another point in the speech, Trump referred to Iceland instead of Greenland as he suggested European leaders aren’t so fond of him at the moment. NATO allies have been rattled by Trump’s desire to seize Greenland ‒ not Iceland.
“I’m helping Europe. I’m helping NATO. And until the last few days, when I told them about Iceland, they loved me. They called me ‘daddy,’ right? A very smart man said, ‘He’s our daddy. He’s running it,'” Trump said.
Trump has repeatedly argued that the U.S. needs Greenland for national security. The island’s location could also be strategic for a ballistic missile warning system and the president previously said it is “vital for the Golden Dome that we are building.”
Leaders of Greenland and Denmark, however, have repeatedly rebuked Trump’s claims.
“You cannot annex another country. Not even with an argument about international security,” Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a Dec. 22 joint statement. “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders and the U.S. shall not take over Greenland.”
What is Davos? Where is it?
Davos, where the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is taking place Jan. 19-23, is a town in Switzerland. It is located in the eastern Swiss Alps, within the canton of Graubünden, and is home to Davos Klosters, a well-known skiing and snowboarding resort where the forum is taking place.
How many people are attending the World Economic Forum?
World Economic Forum organizers said more than 3,000 delegates from more than 130 countries are attending in 2026, including 64 heads of state and government, particularly from emerging economies.
The list also includes several heads of G7 nations, with changes in U.S. policy under Trump in focus.
Why does President Trump want Greenland?
Trump previously said that the U.S. needs Greenland for national security at a Dec. 22 news conference.
“You look up and down the coast, you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need it for national security,” he said. “We have to have it.”
The island could be a strategic location for a ballistic missile warning system and it also has critical minerals used in industries where China has a near-monopoly power, although Trump previously said he is not interested in Greenland for its mineral wealth.
Where is Greenland located?
Greenland is located northeast of Canada and has a population of about 57,000 people. It is slightly more than three times the size of Texas and is the largest non-continental island in the world.
Contributing: Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY. Divya Chowdhury and Peter Thal Larsen, Reuters. Reach Marina Johnson at Marina.Johnson@courier-journal.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What is Davos? Trump meets global business leaders amid Greenland dispute
Reporting by Joey Garrison, Marina Johnson and Jenny Porter Tilley, USA TODAY NETWORK / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
