The island is crucial for building the Golden Dome missile defense system, the US president has said

America must take control of Greenland for the sake of national security, as the island is crucial for building the proposed Golden Dome missile defense system, US President Donald Trump has said.

Trump's statements regarding Greenland have escalated in recent weeks, with the US president growing increasingly insistent on acquiring the territory from Denmark by any means, while hinting at the possibility of using force to annex the island. He offered a new rationale on Wednesday, arguing that control of Greenland is necessary for his Golden Dome missile defense shield plan to come to fruition.

"The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security. It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building. NATO should be leading the way for us to get it," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump announced the Golden Dome initiative early last year. The system, which is expected to involve space-based components and options for preemptive strikes, has projected costs exceeding $542 billion over two decades.

NATO will become "far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the US," Trump claimed, adding that without America, the bloc "would not be an effective force or deterrent."

The US president also reiterated his claim that if the US does not seize Greenland, Russia and China will do so - which both Moscow and Beijing have dismissed, as well as regional officials.

Trump floated his Greenland annexation plans early into his second term, renewing the push to acquire the Danish autonomous territory "one way or the other" in recent weeks. While Copenhagen has expressed willingness to cooperate with the US within the framework of NATO, it insists that the future of the island must be determined by its people, who voted in 2008 to retain their self-governing status.

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen reaffirmed the island's commitment to Denmark and the EU on Tuesday at a joint press conference with his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen. Trump responded by saying, "that's gonna be a big problem for him."

(RT.com)