NUUK, Greenland (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that anything less than U.S. control of Greenland is unacceptable, hours before Vice President JD Vance was to host Danish and Greenlandic officials for talks.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that “anything less” than US control of Greenland is “unacceptable,” arguing the United States needs the territory for national security purposes, which could in turn strengthen NATO.

President Donald Trump has had his sights set on Greenland for years. He first offered to buy the island, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, in 2019 during his first term in what he described as “essentially a real estate deal.

President Trump argued the U.S. must acquire Greenland to prevent Russia or China from taking over, claiming Arctic territory has minimal defenses amid rising geopolitical tensions.

President Donald Trump is not the first U.S. government official interested in Greenland. The first major attempt to control the island was in 1868.

Trump insists the U.S. must take control of Greenland to prevent Russia or China from doing the same — an argument Beijing dismissed Monday as "an excuse" to pursue territorial ambitions.

The comedian threw cold water on the president's claims and slammed him for "doing some weird reverse-woke land acknowledgement.”

President Trump on Friday continued to press for U.S. control of Greenland, telling reporters: "We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not."