JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump has denied concerns that control of rare earth minerals is the main driver of his ambition to acquire the Danish territory, Greenland.
"I want Greenland for security. Not for any other interest. We have so many rare earth minerals that we don't know what to do with them. We don't need it for anything else," Trump said when meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
Trump added that exploiting resources in Greenland is not easy. According to him, it takes digging up to about eight meters below the ice layer to reach it, something not many people are willing or able to do.
"No, this is about security that we are talking about," he said.
Greenland has attracted Trump's attention because of its strategic position in the Arctic region, its wealth of mineral resources, and alleged concerns about Russia's and China's increasing presence in the region.
A number of critics have judged Trump's push to take control of Greenland as potentially fracturing the Western alliance, something seen as beneficial to China and Russia.
They also argue that the US can actually protect Greenland from external threats through existing agreements, which allow the presence of a number of US bases and troops on the island.
The Danish government and Greenland authorities have rejected the proposal to sell the territory and reaffirmed Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland.
When asked about the form of the agreement desired between the US and Denmark, Trump was reluctant to provide details. "We'll see what happens," he said earlier the same day.
Trump also alluded to the cost of managing Greenland, which he said cost Denmark. He said Denmark spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year to manage the region.
"Denmark is a small country with an amazing people, but the area is very expensive. It's a very large expanse of ice," Trump said during an informal discussion session at the WEF.
He reiterated that Greenland has a very important meaning.
"It is important for us to use it for national and international security, to create a force that makes bad parties unable to do anything to those who are considered good," Trump said.
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