Ruptly
"NATO Mark Rutte admitted talks with the US on Greenland were 'ongoing' as he spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Institute in DC on Thursday. "Would NATO be willing to give up Greenland to President Trump?" he was asked, referring to the row last year which saw the US leader tell allies he needed control of the territory - which he called a 'piece of ice' - for security reasons. He did not directly address it, but said that "Denmark, Greenland, and the US continue their bilateral, trilateral talks, focusing on, one, what happens if Greenland would in the future maybe, yes, no, change its constitutional position within the Kingdom of Denmark." "Would agreements then still be valid? I think a fair question to ask and to get an answer to. I think that's solvable. And secondly, how to prevent, when it comes to the Greenland economy, Russia and China getting access. So those conversations are ongoing," he added. Rutte and Trump held crunch talks in DC on Wednesday. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the US pulling out of NATO and revealed: "It's something the President has discussed, and I think it's something the President will be discussing [with Rutte]." Reading a statement from Trump, Leavitt added: "[NATO] were tested and they failed and I would add it's quite sad that NATO turned their backs on the American people over the course of the last six weeks when it's the American people who have been funding their defence." Trump has repeatedly slammed the alliance for failing to 'step up' and assist him on Iran. Following talks with Rutte, Trump wrote: "NATO WASN'T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON'T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN." Rutte admitted the meeting was 'very frank' and 'very open". "
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