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President Donald Trump claimed that NATO failed two key tests as he lambasted the international cooperative on the national stage during a high-stakes summit in Ankara, Turkey on Wednesday.
“I’m not happy with NATO because of what they did with Greenland, and I’m not happy with NATO because of the fact they didn’t want to help us with the No. 1 state sponsor of terror — that’s Iran,” the 47th president told reporters. “They were unwilling to help us.”
“But I was really testing,” Trump revealed. “I wanted to see if they would be there.”
DENMARK VOWS TO DEFEND GREENLAND AFTER TRUMP REITERATES US SHOULD CONTROL TERRITORY
Trump has been eyeing an acquisition of Greenland, the autonomous island territory that is backed in defense, foreign affairs and monetary policy by Denmark. Greenlanders are officially citizens of Denmark.
The president has proposed purchasing Greenland from Denmark multiple times, and insisted Tuesday at the summit in Turkey that the territory is critical to global security and that it “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark.”
As China and Russia expand their presence in the region, Trump has continuously said that acquiring the territory, which plays a critical role in U.S. missile warning systems and Arctic defense, is a necessity.
“We need it for protection of the world, not just the United States,” Trump said.
Now, Trump claims that his idea to acquire the territory was actually a test of NATO to see if world leaders would support the U.S. in that effort.
TRUMP MAKES FRESH GREENLAND PLAY AFTER XI TALKS AS CHINA’S ARCTIC AMBITIONS LOOM
Trump claimed that Danish leadership has not been helpful to Greenland and its people.
“Denmark doesn’t spend money to really help Greenland, but it’s an important part for the United States. And it’s surrounded by China ships and Russian ships,” he said.
TRUMP SAYS IRAN CEASEFIRE IS ‘OVER’ AFTER IRANIAN ATTACKS TRIGGER MASSIVE US RESPONSE
Danish leaders have repeatedly insisted that Greenland is not for sale, and took a more forceful stance against Trump on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, once again, that the territory is “not for sale.” She also insisted that Denmark is “ready to defend every inch of NATO including our own territory.”
“We hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenland people’s right for self-determination,” she continued. “And we are sovereign states and we need everybody to respect our territorial integrity and our sovereignty.”
Trump has long been critical of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), specifically accusing member nations of mooching of the United States, which spends nearly $1 trillion per year on defense.
Germany spends the second-most on defense out of all the allied nations, but the total is only one-tenth of what the U.S. spends.
Most recently, Trump demanded each NATO member nation spend 5% of their respective GDPs on defense.
The president has also previously threatened to leave the alliance, claiming it is not beneficial to the U.S.
Meanwhile, the war with Iran lingers on after Trump declared Tuesday that the tentative ceasefire with the Middle Eastern nation is “over.” He called Iran “scum” and “evil” after the U.S. launched new strikes.
Previously, a much-maligned memorandum of understanding was put in place to de-escalate the war, which critics said conceded too much to the Iranians.
Trump lost his patience with Tehran after they launched attacks on trade vessels in the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the week, and called negotiations with the country a “waste of time.”
Fox News Digital’s Eric Mack, Morgan Phillips and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
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