Trump threatens to acquire Canada, Greenland while next to NATO chief

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said nothing about the possibility of the U.S. threatening a founding NATO member, after Trump called the Canadian border 'artificial.'

U.S. President Donald Trump repeated his frequently-voiced desire to acquire Canada and Greenland on Thursday — this time with the leader of NATO sitting next to him.

“I think it will happen,” Trump said when asked by a reporter about the U.S. taking over Greenland during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

“I’m sitting with a man that could be very instrumental — you know Mark, we need that for international security,” he continued, turning to Rutte.

The secretary-general said he did not “want to drag NATO into” a conversation about the U.S. acquiring Greenland, but acknowledged the importance of Arctic security and northern countries working together “under U.S. leadership” to combat China and Russia.

Later, when asked about tariffs on Canada, Trump spoke of his grievances with Canadian trade and returned to his call to make Canada the 51st U.S. state.

“This would be the most incredible country visually,” he said. “If you look at a map, they drew an artificial line right through it, between Canada and the U.S., just a straight artificial line. Somebody did it a long time ago, many many decades ago, and it makes no sense.”

Rutte said nothing about the possibility of the U.S. threatening the border of a founding NATO member.

Trump spoke just moments after his nominee for ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, told senators at his confirmation hearing that “Canada is a sovereign state” and stressed the importance of the historical bilateral relationship.