The president’s press secretary said on social media that Trump did not misspeak and was referring to Greenland as “a piece of ice.”
WASHINGTON D.C., DC โ In his speech Wednesday to the World Economic Forum in Davos, President Donald Trump referred to Iceland multiple times when he likely meant Greenland โ and his press secretary later said that the president was referring to Greenland as a “piece of ice.”
In his address at the annual meeting of the elite in Switzerland, Trump reaffirmed his ambition to secure โright, title and ownershipโ of Greenland and urged NATO allies not to stand in the way, warning that refusals would carry consequences for the alliance.
He later announced that he was scrapping his planned tariffs on eight European nations in an effort to force U.S. control over Greenland. In a post on his social media site, Trump said he had agreed with the head of NATO on a โframework of a future dealโ on Arctic security, potentially defusing tension that had far-reaching geopolitical implications.
During his speech Wednesday he referred to Iceland when he appeared to mean Greenland at least four times.
“I’m helping NATO, and I’ve โ until the last few days, when I told them about Iceland, they loved me,” Trump said. “They called me daddy, right? The last time. A very smart man said, ‘He’s our daddy.’ He’s running it. I was like running it โ I went from running it to being a terrible human being. But now what I’m asking for is a piece of ice, cold and poorly located, that and play a vital role in world peace and world protection. It’s a very small ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades.”
At another point in his speech, he said, “I don’t know that they’d be there for us. They’re not there for us on Iceland. That I can tell you. I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland’s already cost us a lot of money.”
He called Greenland a strategic piece of ice: โWe want a piece of ice of for world protection, and they won’t give it. You can say yes and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no and we will remember.โ
On the social media platform X, Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that the president had misspoken during his speech.
“His written remarks referred to Greenland as a ‘piece of ice’ because that’s what it is,”ย Leavitt wrote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
