Trump tried to justify the US attack on Venezuela by pointing to the expansionist policies of China and Russia.
What you should know
US President Donald Trump warned Greenland once again on Friday.
‘I’m going to do something in Greenland . Whether they like it or not,’ he said at a White House event on Friday .
‘If we don’t do it, Russia or China will take Greenland,’ he added . He also said that Greenland is surrounded by China and Russian military ships . The American media outlet The New York Times has stated that Trump’s claim is false .
‘Russia and China are active in the Arctic circle . But they have not sent military ships to Greenland . There is a US military base in Greenland,’ the New York Times wrote .
Trump has warned Danish and Greenlandic officials that the island could be taken by force . ‘I want to make an easy deal . If this does not happen, we will take strong action,' he said.
A US military intervention in Greenland would end the NATO military alliance's mandate. Denmark and the US are both founding members of the NATO treaty. According to the treaty, 'an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all.'
But Trump has rejected this basic principle of the alliance. He has also said that the US will protect the island only if it is given direct rule. 'We will protect it once we own it,' he said.
Trump invited oil and gas company executives to the event at the White House.
He tried to justify the US's attack on neighboring countries by pointing to the expansionist policies of China and Russia. “If we hadn’t done it, Russia or China would have done it,” he said of his efforts to control Venezuela’s oil.
He said the Venezuelan government had done a good job coordinating with the US after the attack. He also claimed that if there had been no coordination, the country itself would have been destroyed by a US attack.
“They talked to us very clearly. Very smartly,” he said, “otherwise, after another attack, the whole place would have been destroyed. And we didn’t want to do that.”
