President Trump again threatens to annex Greenland
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This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Will Chalk, and in the early hours of Wednesday, the 7th of January, these are our main stories. The US says it's discussing options to, as it put it, acquire Greenland, including the use of military force. Ukraine and its allies say they've made progress in talks to ensure the country's security in the event of a ceasefire with Russia. And the Venezuelan military and government continue to crack down on dissent. Also in this podcast, we get the latest on the anti-government protests that have engulfed Iran and... We actually ran a benchmark computation on this chip, which took just a few minutes, but it would have taken 10 septillion years on today's top supercomputer.
An inside look at one of the world's first quantum computers. Over the course of countless TV interviews, press conferences and speeches, Donald Trump has made a lot of claims, and it means sifting out the ones he's immediately planning to follow through on isn't always easy. But one idea, that the US might take over Greenland, seems to be increasingly picking up steam. So much so that it dominated a meeting of a group of Ukraine's allies, the so-called Coalition of the Willing, in France on Tuesday. The meeting was supposed to be about security guarantees for Ukraine. Now, a number of those guarantees were established, but the Paris meeting also made a joint declaration on the issue of Greenland after Donald Trump again threatened to try and annex the island using force if necessary.
Greenland has been owned by Denmark since 1814 and the European statement promised to defend the vast North Atlantic island's territorial integrity. Trina Mack is a Danish MP and a member of the country's Foreign Affairs Committee. She's highly critical of the US's seeming contempt for international law.
It's a very weird comment to come with in the 21st century where we base state relations on the UN Charter that states quite clearly that... People have the right to self-determination and we have to respect the state sovereignty. Now, it's quite obvious that the current US administration has a very flexible approach to international law. But a lot of European countries, Nordic countries, Canada has come out in support of Koreans' right to independence and protection. What counts right now is that other countries step up and stand firm on international law.
I asked our North America correspondent David Willis whether the Americans were really threatening to invade Greenland if Denmark didn't hand it over voluntarily. It could really hardly be plainer. I have to say, well, a statement from the White House press secretary, Caroline Leavitt, says the president and his team are discussing a range of options to acquire Greenland and that utilising the US military is one of those options. And that statement calls... Greenland's acquisition, an important foreign policy goal and a national security priority of the United States. It was no doubt intended to counter the statement that is European leaders support for Denmark and the claim by Denmark's prime minister that a military attack by the US would
as he put it, spelled the end of NATO. Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the United States wanted to buy Greenland from Denmark, not invade it. And the Reuters news agency, quoting an unnamed senior US official, reported that another option was forming a so-called compact of free association, in other words, a close security alliance with Greenland. We've heard lots from the US, from Donald Trump especially, about why they need Greenland, why they want Greenland. But have we heard anything as a justification for why they should have Greenland? Well, that's a very good question, given that Greenland is the most sparsely populated territory in the world with one of the harshest climates.
Eighty percent of it is covered in ice.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–5:33
2
What are the implications of the US considering the annexation of Greenland?
5:33–6:18
3
How are Ukraine and its allies addressing security concerns with Russia?
6:18–7:16
4
What is the current situation regarding dissent in Venezuela?
7:16–7:55
5
What are the latest developments in the anti-government protests in Iran?
7:55–10:06
6
What is the significance of one of the world's first quantum computers?
10:06–11:08
7
How has Donald Trump's stance on Greenland evolved?
11:08–26:52
8
What are the reasons behind the US's interest in acquiring Greenland?
26:52–28:11
Speakers
5 identifiedMore from Global News Podcast
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