State Department: US needs to own Greenland because of threats in the Arctic

Trump rules off force but renews Greenland demands

State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, joins LiveNOW from FOX's Josh Breslow to talk about Greenland and Venezuela. Pigott says President Trump wants Greenland for national security purposes. 

During a speech Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, President Trump said that he would not use force to take Greenland, an island the State Department says the United States needs to control to counter threats in the surrounding Arctic sea by Russia and China. 

In an interview Wednesday with LiveNow Senior Digital Journalist Josh Breslow, U.S. Department of State Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott says President Trump has made a compelling case for the U.S. takeover of Greenland and doing so would benefit Greenlanders and NATO.

What they're saying:

"Well, look, the president's words speak for themselves. What I can say is he's made an incredibly compelling case for why the United States needs to own Greenland because of the modern threats that we face in the Arctic. And as he just said in Davos, this will be beneficial to Greenlanders, beneficial to the NATO alliance, and beneficial to the United States of America," said Pigott.  "He also made the important point that it is up to each NATO partner to defend their territory as part of that alliance, and the United States is the only NATO partner that can defend Greenland from the encroachment that we are seeing from our adversaries. So the president continues to make this compelling case of why the United States needs to own Greenland for the security of Greenlanders, of NATO and the United States." 

The backstory:

Greenland is the world’s largest island and lies between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, a region seen as strategic on the world stage.

"Well, the strategic location of Greenland is key. The president discussed this at Davos.  It's a location between China, Russia, the United States. The fact that we've seen encroachment from our adversaries. The new and modern threats we face from modern weaponry make this such an important thing as well. And fundamentally, like I said, it is up to each NATO partner to defend its territory and the United States is the only NATO partner with the capabilities to defend Greenland," said Pigott.

Tommy Pigott serves as the Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the Department of State, joining in January 2025. He previously worked as Strategic Communications Director at the Republican National Committee.