16 March 2025
US President Donald Trump repeated his aspiration to acquire Canada and Greenland during a meeting in the White House on 14 March with NATO Secretary-General and former president of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte. Since both Canada and Greenland are both members of NATO (the latter as part of Denmark but an autonomous territory with its own government) it might have been expected that Rutte would have raised concerns. Instead, he decided to remain silent.
Asked during the meeting with Rutte about tariffs on Canada, Trump spoke of his grievances with Canadian trade and returned to his call to make Canada the 51st US state. “This would be the most incredible country visually,” he said. “If you look at a map, they drew an artificial line right through it, between Canada and the US, just a straight artificial line. Somebody did it a long time ago, many many decades ago, and it makes no sense”. Canadian officials, including incoming prime minister Mark Carney, have repeatedly stressed that Canada will never become a part of the United States.
However, the Secretary General did not weigh in on the possibility of the US threatening the border of a founding NATO member, although he did make some remarks on Greenland at another point in the meeting. Other leaders in NATO member states have also declined to voice concerns about Trump’s threats against Canada’s sovereignty when appearing next to him.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused a reporter of “trying to find a divide between us that doesn’t exist” when asked about the issue during a press conference with Trump at the White House on 27 February. During the meeting Starmer deployed an invitation from the UK Head of State, King Charles III, for a second UK state visit for Trump. King Charles is also head of state of 14 other UK Commonwealth realms, including Canada, and separately on 12 March the King reaffirmed his commitment to the country during a meeting with Canadian representatives. However, the same day, when asked directly in the UK Parliament to show support amid Trump’s attacks and tariffs, Starmer said Canada was "an important ally" but did not commit to a visit.
On the issue of Greenland, when a reporter during the Trump-Rutte meeting asked, “What is your vision for the potential annexation of Greenland and getting them potentially to—” Trump immediately began talking over the question. “Well, I think it’ll happen,” he said. “And I’m just thinking, I didn’t give it much thought before but I’m sitting with a man who could be very instrumental. You know Mark, we need that for international security — not just security, international”.
Rutte replied: “When it comes to Greenland yes or not joining the US I would leave that outside for me this discussion because I don’t want to drag NATO in that. But when it comes to the High North and the Arctic, you are totally right. The Chinese are using these routes, we know the Russians are rearming, we know we have a lack of icebreakers”. He continued: “Outside Russia there are seven arctic countries working together on this under US leadership. (It) is very important to make sure that region … stays safe. And we know things are changing there”.
Trump then continued to talk about “national security” as the reason for US interest in the region, adding: “We have a couple of bases on Greenland already, and we have a few soldiers, and maybe you’ll see more and more soldiers go there. I don’t know”.
The tactical appeasements of Trump by both Starmer and Rutte can be contrasted by the EU’s more vocal support for Denmark over Greenland. That Rutte played to Trump’s vanity is evident in the official remarks released by NATO on the visit to the White House. Rutte supported Trump’s calls for increased spending and agreed that member states need to produce more weapons and were lagging behind Russia and China. On Ukraine Rutte congratulated Trump for breaking the deadlock and starting the dialogue with Russia. He concluded by inviting Trump to the Hague in the summer for a NATO summit to “work together to make sure that it will be a splash. A real success - projecting American power on the world stage”.
In an interview with Bloomberg Rutte said his Oval Office conversation with Trump was "very positive", as he felt an "absolutely clear commitment" to the alliance from the US president. Rutte also opened the door to restoring Russia relations after the Ukraine war. “It’s normal if the war would have stopped for Europe somehow, step by step, and also for the US, step by step, to restore normal relations with Russia," he said. “But we are absolutely not there yet,” the NATO Secretary General added. Rutte declined to comment on the feasibility of the 30-day ceasefire plan but called it a "very smart plan" and said he's "happy" with the developments.
Meanwhile, the Group of Five defence ministers issued a joint statement after a meeting in Paris on 12 March. Launched in November 2024, the Group of Five or E5 refers to a new military format bringing together the defence ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the UK, with the twin goals of coordinating efforts and providing support to Ukraine and leading the European NATO rearmament process. In the statement the ministers outlined several measures designed to “step up European support for peace in Ukraine” and “consolidate our common approach to European defence within NATO and EU frameworks”.