Next to NATO Chief, Trump Drops Bombshell: Wants Canada and Greenland

In the rarefied air of international diplomacy, where calculated statements are typically served with a side of strategic ambiguity, President Trump has once again opted for the conversational equivalent of a sonic boom. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Trump casually suggested that perhaps Canada and Greenland should become part of the United States a geopolitical proposition delivered with the same nonchalance one might use to recommend a restaurant.

“They’re right there, beautiful pieces of real estate,” Trump remarked, gesturing vaguely northward. “Canada’s great people, terrific people. And Greenland all that strategic location and minerals. Why not have them join us?”

Stoltenberg’s expression a masterclass in diplomatic poker revealed nothing while saying everything, his years of navigating international crises proving inadequate preparation for this particular moment of improvisational statecraft.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded with characteristically measured diplomacy: “Canada values its sovereignty as much as our positive relationship with our American neighbors,” while Danish officials, recalling Trump’s previous Greenland overtures, issued a more direct statement: “Greenland is not for sale. Not now, not ever.”

International relations scholars note this continues Trump’s pattern of treating geopolitics like real estate development where territories, like properties, can simply be acquired given the right offer.