Trump says you can ‘bet’ Greenland will be under US control

President Donald Trump has told a radio host that a bet on the United States controlling Greenland before the end of his term would be a safe one, the latest sign that his push to acquire the island remains a priority.

Speaking on Real America’s Voice on July 31, Trump was reminded by host Steve Gruber of Gruber’s own earlier on-air prediction that Greenland would be under U.S. operational control before Trump left office. Asked whether the island remained vital to Western defence, Trump replied:

“You’ll be right. Greenland’s important from our standpoint. Not from their standpoint. But from our standpoint.” He added: “You should make that bet, actually.”

The following day, Trump posted an image to Truth Social depicting himself as a giant figure looming over the town of Tasiilaq, on Greenland’s east coast, captioned “Hello, Greenland!” The image is one he has shared several times since May, part of a series of Greenland-related posts dating back to the beginning of his second term.

“Children in Greenland are now afraid of Americans”

Trump frames Greenland as an American asset whose value is measured, in his words, “from our standpoint, not from their standpoint.” From the other side, the picture is one of alarm. In an interview with Katie Couric on July 30, Senator Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) recounted meeting the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland, who he said were angry and had asked U.S. senators directly whether Trump intended to invade. He said he could only tell them he hoped not.

“The prime minister of Greenland told me that children in Greenland are now afraid of Americans,” Kelly said. “Afraid.”

Kelly, who described the wider reaction of European officials he met at the Munich Security Conference, said the officials “think we’ve lost our minds.” He said that in Denmark, once among Washington’s closest allies, China now polls higher than the United States, and that his message to concerned allies was that the United States they knew was “still there, just one level down.”

They would need to “get through this administration,” he said, adding that he was not certain the relationship would fully recover. “I don’t think we get back to where we were.”