President Donald Trump reiterated his calls for the United States to take control of Greenland after Saturday’s move to capture and extradite Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, saying that control of the island was more critical than ever from a national security standpoint.

Trump made the comments while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, and while he conceded that Greenland was not the number one priority at the moment, he made it clear that the issue was still on his radar.

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🚨 JUST IN: Denmark is PANICKING after President Trump insisted the US NEEDS Greenland, and Denmark isn’t treating it properly

“We need Greenland! For national security.”

“You know what Denmark did to ‘boost security?!’ Added ONE MORE DOG SLED! It’s true!” 😭

“Greenland is… pic.twitter.com/t7lijNpX4J

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 5, 2026

“How did we come up to Greenland? Well, I don’t want to talk about Greenland,” he said at first. “Let’s talk about Venezuela, Russia, Ukraine. We’ll worry about Greenland in about two months. Let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days.”

He then went on to give a few thoughts on the matter anyway, saying, “I will say this about Greenland — we need Greenland from a national security situation. It’s so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security.”

“And Denmark is not going to be able to do it, I can tell you,” he continued. “You know what Denmark did recently to boost up security on Greenland? They added one more dog sled. It’s true. They thought that was a great move.”

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen pushed back over the weekend, calling Trump’s remarks “very rude and disrespectful.”

“I have to say this very directly to the United States: It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to take over Greenland,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen added. “The Kingdom of Denmark – and thus Greenland – is part of NATO and is therefore covered by the alliance’s security guarantee. We already have a defense agreement between the Kingdom and the United States today, which gives the United States wide access to Greenland.”

Frederiksen added a warning: “I would therefore strongly urge the United States to stop the threats against a historically close ally and against another country and another people who have said very clearly that they are not for sale.”

After Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to clarify President Donald Trump’s Saturday comment that the United States would “run” Venezuela following the capture and extradition of Nicolás Maduro, the president reiterated his position Sunday.

“We’re dealing with the people. We’re dealing with the people that just got supported. And don’t ask me who’s in charge, because I’ll give you an answer, and it’ll be very controversial,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One. “We’re in charge.”

Trump added that there would be elections in Venezuela “at the right time.” 

“We’re going to run it, fix it,” he said. “It’s a broken country. There’s no money. There’s inflation, like we would have had if I didn’t win this election, we would have been Venezuela on steroids.”

When asked whether he believed America was back in the business of nation-building, Trump said rebuilding the Venezuelan economy would be good for the country. 

“We’re in the business of having countries around us that are viable, successful and where the oil is allowed to freely come out, because that’s good, it gets the prices down. That’s good for our country,” Trump said. “This is Venezuela, our area, the ‘Donroe Doctrine,’” a play on words riffing on the Monroe Doctrine to describe his Trump-branded approach to American leadership in the Western Hemisphere. 

Trump said that he was inspired to take action against Maduro because of the drugs coming into the United States from Venezuela. Over the last few months, the War Department has conducted strikes on more than 30 boats suspected of running drugs, many of them coming from Venezuela. Trump said that drugs coming by sea into the United States were down 97%.

During his conversation with reporters, Trump called for Mexico to take more action to stop drug trafficking. 

“You have to do something with Mexico,” Trump said. “Mexico has to get their act together, because they’re pouring through Mexico, and we’re gonna have to do something. We’d love Mexico to do it. They’re capable of doing it. But unfortunately, the cartels are very strong in Mexico.”

Trump was also asked about Greenland and whether he had any plans to take control there. He said he wanted to focus on Ukraine and Venezuela for the next few months, but believed it was a strategically important country. 

“We need Greenland from a national security situation. It’s so strategic right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” Trump said. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”