Trump backtracks on military threats in Greenland

GREENLAND'S government unveiled a new brochure on Wednesday offering advice to the population in the event of a "crisis" in the territory, which US President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to seize from his country's ally Denmark.

Guidance includes stockpiling food and water, hunting weapons and ammunition.

The document is "an insurance policy", said Self-Sufficiency Minister Peter Borg at a press conference in Nuuk, the Greenlandic capital.

"We don't expect to have to use it," Borg said.

Trump demanded "immediate" talks on his bid to control Greenland but said he would not use military force to take the Arctic island.

Work on the brochure, titled "Prepared for Crises -- Be Self‑Sufficient for Five Days", began last year "against a backdrop of power outages of varying duration", according to the Greenland government.

The guidance recommends storing five days' worth of food, three litres of water per person per day, toilet paper, a battery‑powered radio, plus weapons, ammunition and fishing equipment.

Greenland's 57,000-strong population -- nearly 90 percent indigenous Inuit people -- has long traditions of hunting and fishing as the primary means of subsistence.

On Tuesday, Greenland's Prime Minister Jens‑Frederik Nielsen said a military operation against Greenland was "unlikely", but that the Danish autonomous territory must nevertheless be ready.

Since returning to power last year, Trump has repeatedly said he wants to gain control of Greenland to counter Russian and Chinese advances in the Arctic and ensure global stability -- the horror of his European and NATO allies.

The US president said in Davos that he "won't use force" to take the island, while calling for "immediate negotiations" to acquire it.

Trump's quest to take control of Greenland from a NATO ally has deeply shaken the global order and the markets, and it dominated his first address to the World Economic Forum in six years.

In a speech lasting more than an hour in the Swiss ski resort, Trump appeared to take the threat of military action off the table, in a dramatic turnaround from his previous threats that the US could use force to take control of the mineral-rich Arctic island.

"We probably won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable -- but I won't do that," Trump said.

"I don't have to use force. I don't want to use force. I won't use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland."

Trump slammed "ungrateful" Denmark for refusing to give up Greenland, and said the US  alone could guarantee the security of the "giant piece of ice".

Denmark said it was a "positive" sign that Trump had said he wanted to avoid military force -- but stressed that the US president had not backed away from his push to acquire Greenland.

"What is quite clear after this speech is that the president's ambition remains intact," Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said.

Trump repeatedly pushed his claims to Greenland -- which he mistakenly called Iceland several times -- during lengthy remarks on the deepest crisis in transatlantic relations for decades.

He said he was "seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States" and added that Washington would "remember" if Denmark said no.

The US president also lambasted Europe on a number of fronts from security to tariffs and the economy, saying it was "not heading in the right direction".

Europe and Canada had earlier closed ranks against what they view as a threat to the US-led global order from Trump's territorial ambitions.

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney won a standing ovation at Davos on Tuesday when he warned of a "rupture" to the US-led system. French President Emmanuel Macron meanwhile said Europe would not be bullied.

But Trump, who was due to meet a number of leaders in Davos, renewed his attacks on the two leaders, mocking Macron in particular for wearing sunglasses at Davos, which the French president said was because of an eye condition.

The Greenland row has also soured relations with the European Union, which has threatened countermeasures after Trump vowed tariffs of up to 25 percent on eight European countries for backing Denmark.

Cape Times