President Donald Trump's Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, went on Fox Business on Wednesday to complain about the fact that America's NATO allies are now sending small security forces to Greenland, in response to President Donald Trump's escalating threats to annex the glaciated island territory away from the Kingdom of Denmark.
"I didn't understand why they sent a couple dozen military people to Greenland," Lutnick told anchor Maria Bartiromo. "I mean, it made no sense whatsoever. They didn't send those couple of dozen people to Ukraine before Russia came in."
"So I mean, I think he felt they were just being provocative. If you provoke the president, you're gonna get a response," he added in an apparent threat.
Lutnick, one of the administration's most outspoken evangelists for the president's tariff regime, has often irritated others within Trump's circle with his antics.
The U.S. has had interests in Greenland, and various proposals to acquire it, dating back to the 19th century, but this largely became irrelevant with the establishment of NATO, as Denmark allows U.S. forces to use the island for any military purposes they need.
Trump's obsession with seizing control of the island, where overwhelming majorities oppose being annexed into the United States, has strained relations with Denmark and caused friction throughout NATO. Some experts have warned this is playing directly into the hands of Russia's Vladimir Putin, as he continues to throw everything in his power at the invasion of Ukraine and NATO resists.
