President Donald Trump doubled down on a possible U.S. takeover of Greenland, stating, “we need it for defense.”

The president spoke on the topic with “The Atlantic’s” Michael SchererSunday.

Scherer asked Trump about Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating after the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, “the message here should be for the world” and warned nations “don’t play games.”

“When he tells you that he’s going to do something, when he tells you he’s going to address a problem, he means it,” Rubio said.

This brought to mind Trump’s earlier statements about obtaining Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark

Trump did not divulge any military action being planned, but claimed again America’s “need” for Greenland.

“They are going to have to view it themselves,” Trump said about the people of Greenland. “I really don’t know. He was very generous to me, Marco, yesterday. You know, I wasn’t referring to Greenland at that time. But we do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense.”

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Trump also claimed Greenland was “surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships.”

Jesper Møller Sørensen, the Danish ambassador to the United Statescalled out Katie Miller,wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and podcaster, for her post on X.

Katie Miller posted map of Greenland painted with the American flag with the word “SOON.”

Sørensen responded with a post of his own on X.

“Just a friendly reminder about the US and the Kingdom of Denmark: We are close allies and should continue to work together as such. US security is also Greenland’s and Denmark’s security,” he said. “Greenland is already part of NATO. The Kingdom of Denmark and the United States work together to ensure security in the Arctic. The Kingdom of Denmark has significantly boosted its Arctic security efforts – in 2025 alone, we committed USD 13,7 bn that can be used in the Arctic and North Atlantic. Because we take our joint security seriously.”

“And yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he added.

Many have spoken out against Trump’s desire to control of Greenland.

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“We don’t belong to anyone else. We decide our own future. We must not act out of fear. We must respond with peace, dignity and unity,” Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsensaid in March.