Trump rules out using force in battle for control of Greenland

Donald Trump insisted America had a historical right to own Greenland on Wednesday and called for "immediate negotiations", but ruled out taking the Danish territory by force.

In a lengthy and at times rambling speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the US president said Greenland - which he described as a "big, beautiful piece of ice, it’s hard to call it land" - was a "core national security interest" for America.

"If there is a war, much of the action would take place on that piece of ice," he said. "A lot of missiles would be flying over that piece of ice.

"A piece of ice, cold ice, that can play a vital role in world peace and world protection."

Trump’s overtures towards Greenland, in the face of widespread opposition, have caused mounting global panic in recent weeks. A number of Nato members deployed troops to the island in response, prompting the president to announce a wave of escalating tariffs on America's Nato allies.

However, he used his speech to rule out taking the island by force.

"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," he said. "That’s probably the biggest statement I made, because people thought I would use force.

"I won’t use force. All the US is asking for is a place called Greenland, which we always had, which we gave back after we defeated Germany, the Japanese and Italians in World War II."

Instead, he said he would be "seeking immediate negotiations" to buy the island, "just as we have acquired many other territories throughout our history", and insisted the possible purchase should not be taken as a threat to Nato.

Equities jumped following the speech, which lasted well over an hour, while safe haven gold fell back.

Trump insisted that US presidents had been trying to buy the island "for two centuries". Noting that America had won the war for Europe - "without us you’d all be speaking German and a little Japanese perhaps" - he said the US had been "stupid" to give the territory back after defending it during the conflict.

The rest of the speech focused heavily on both the "economic miracle" in the US that had occurred during the first year of his second term, and on his regular list of grievances, including Europe, trade policy, renewable energy and Nato.

"The US is treated very unfairly by Nato," he told delegates. "We give so much and get so little in return. You wouldn’t even have Nato if I didn’t get involved in my first term."

He continued: "We want a piece of ice for world protection and they won’t give it - and we’ve never asked for anything else.

"You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no and we will remember."

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "Trump’s speech has lowered the geopolitical temperature somewhat, and the gold price has back from its highs, although it remains well above $4,800 an ounce.

"Ultimately, this is typical Trump: he says one thing on a Sunday, says something else on a Wednesday and manages to push the US and its economy front and centre. This is a US president who cares about the performance of the US stock market above all else."