Lammy laughs off Trump threat to grab Greenland: ‘It’s not going to happen’
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Foreign secretary also hit back at Trump’s demands that the UK double its defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. Foreign Secretary David Lammy has dismissed Donald Trump’s “destabilising” threat to take over Greenland. “Let’s get serious, it’s not going happen,” he said during an interview with the BBC on Thursday. Asked about the US President Elect’s refusal to rule out using force or economic measures to take over Greenland, currently part of Denmark, Mr Lammy burst out laughing.
![[David Lammy said the remarks are “classic Donald Trump”]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/09/07/Screenshot-2025-01-09-at-07.35.59.jpg)
“No NATO allies have gone to war since the birth of NATO (in 1949),” he told the BBC. Mr Lammy said Mr Trump’s remarks were in line with his habit of making provocative statements, which he did not always carry through with. “We know from his first term (as president) that the intensity of his rhetoric and unpredictability sometimes of what he says can be destabilising,” he said. “I suspect on Greenland he is targeting his concerns about Russia and China in the Arctic and his concerns about national economic security. He recognises, I am sure, that Greenland is a kingdom of Denmark.”.
Mr Lammy emphasised his point when challenged that France and Germany had been more outspoken than the UK in their response to Trump’s threats regarding Greenland. “Look, let’s get serious,” he said. When BBC interviewer Amol Rajan interjected: “You don’t think it’s going to happen?” the Foreign Secretary agreed. He burst out laughing adding: “It’s not going to happen.”.
NATO allies had never gone to war with each other, he said. Mr Lammy offered a similarly robust reply to Trump’s demand for NATO members, including Britain, to double their defence spending from the current 2.5 per cent of GDP target to 5 per cent. The US only spent 3.38 per cent of its national wealth on defence, he said.
