By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he wants to acquire Greenland, possibly by purchasing it from Denmark, despite the U.S. ally's repeated insistence that it is not for sale.

President Trump on Wednesday de-escalated his threats to seize Greenland and hammer Europe with new tariffs, but some lawmakers in both parties fear the damage to NATO has already been done.

President Donald Trump declares at Davos that the U.S. is the only nation capable of securing Greenland for national security reasons during his World Economic Forum speech.

President Donald Trump’s Wednesday speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland was filled with inaccurate claims – notably including false and misleading statements about NATO and Greenland, the self-governing Danish territory he is pushing for the US to acquire.

Donald Trump has claimed that the U.S. has never needed NATO’s help, apparently forgetting how allied nations came to America’s aid after September 11 and died assisting US forces on the frontlines of Afghanistan.

Follow live coverage from NBC News as President Donald Trump launches his Board of Peace at Davos and Denmark, Greenland respond to the framework deal with NATO to cancel tariffs.

The NATO statement came amid new reporting from the New York Times that deal may include the U.S. being given “sovereignty over small pockets” of land in Greenland.