President Donald Trump vowed on Sunday that the United States would take Greenland “one way or the other,” warning that Russia and China would “take over” if Washington fails to act.

Trump says controlling the mineral-rich Danish territory is crucial for US national security given increased Russian and Chinese military activity in the Arctic.

“If we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will, and I’m not letting that happen,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, despite neither country laying claim to the vast island.

Trump said he would be open to making a deal with the Danish self-governing territory “but one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland.”

Denmark and other European allies have voiced shock at Trump’s threats over the island, which plays a strategic role between North America and the Arctic, and where the United States has had a military base since World War II.

A Danish colony until 1953, Greenland gained home rule 26 years later and is contemplating eventually loosening its ties with Denmark.

The vast majority of its population and political parties have said they do not want to be under US control and insist Greenlanders must decide their own future — a viewpoint continuously challenged by Trump.

“Greenland should make the deal, because Greenland does not want to see Russia or China take over,” Trump warned, as he mocked its defenses.

“You know what their defense is, two dog sleds,” he said, while Russia and China have “destroyers and submarines all over the place.”

Denmark’s prime minister warned last week that any US move to take Greenland by force would destroy 80 years of transatlantic security links.

Trump waved off the comment saying: “If it affects NATO, it affects NATO. But you know, (Greenland) need us much more than we need them.”

AFP

Iran has warned the United States against any military action, saying it would retaliate if the U.S. President Donald Trump follows through on threats to intervene as Tehran continues its crackdown on nationwide protests.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, issued the warning during a parliamentary session broadcast live on Iranian State television.

Qalibaf praised the country’s military response to the protests and cautioned that both the U.S. military and Israel are considered “legitimate targets” in the event of an attack on Iran.

Referring to Israel as “the occupied territory,” Qalibaf said Iran would not rule out launching a preemptive strike against either country if it perceives a threat.

“In the event of an attack on Iran, both the occupied territory and all American military centers, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets,” Qalibaf said.

“We do not consider ourselves limited to reacting after the action and will act based on any objective signs of a threat,” he added.

The warning came amid scenes of heightened tension in the chamber, as hardline lawmakers rushed the dais and chanted, “Death to America!”

Iran has been rocked by widespread protests challenging the country’s theocratic system over the past few weeks, prompting a sustained security crackdown by authorities.

Activists estimated that at least 116 people have died in connection with the demonstrations, while about 2,600 others have been detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Right Activists News Agency. Exact figures remain unclear due to internet shutdowns and disrupted phone services across the country.

Trump has warned that the United States is prepared to act if Iranian authorities kill protesters.

“If Iran (shoots) and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” Trump said earlier this month.

“Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready tohelp!!!” he added on his Truth Social platform.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that Trump has been briefed on possible military strike options against Iran but has yet to make a final decision.

United Kingdom’s Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has said that the United States’ military action to remove Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro was the right decision on moral grounds, even though the legal basis for the operation remains unclear.

Speaking to the BBC, Badenoch said she does not understand the legal justification for United States President Donald Trump’s decision to remove Maduro but described the Venezuelan leader as presiding over a “brutal regime,” adding that she is “glad he’s gone.”

She, however, warned that the operation raised serious concerns about the rules-based international order.

The UK government has so far avoided directly criticising the US action or stating whether it breached international law, instead maintaining that Maduro was an “illegitimate president.”

However, several Labour MPs and opposition parties, including the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and the SNP, have called on the government to condemn the operation and describe it as illegal.

Badenoch, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, described the US intervention as “extraordinary” but said she understood why it was carried out.

“Where the legal certainty is not yet clear, morally, I do think it was the right thing to do,” she said.

The Conservative leader, who spent part of her childhood in Nigeria before returning to the UK at the age of 16, said her upbringing under military rule shaped her views on authoritarian leadership.

“I grew up under a military dictatorship, so I know what it’s like to have someone like Maduro in charge.”

She also distinguished the situation in Venezuela from President Trump’s comments on Greenland, saying it was right to oppose any US intervention there.

“There is a big difference between democratic states” and the “gangster state in Venezuela”.

“What happens in Greenland is up to Denmark and the people of Greenland,” she added.

Trump has in recent days renewed his threats to annex Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory with a strategic location and rich mineral resources, arguing that the move is necessary for US national security. The UK has issued a joint statement alongside France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Denmark, insisting that decisions concerning Greenland’s future rest solely with Denmark and the people of Greenland.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the government’s stance on Greenland differed from Venezuela because Denmark is a member of NATO and questioning Greenland’s future was not in the UK’s national security interests. He also defended the prime minister’s response to developments in Venezuela, saying it was guided by national interest and concern for the Venezuelan people.

“I appreciate there are others who have been more strident and have been more critical of the United States,” he said.

“The prime minister has a different responsibility, and he is choosing his words carefully and wisely to try and influence how events unfold from here on.”

Critics of the government’s approach, including Labour MP Emily Thornberry, chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, have argued that the US action risks emboldening Russia and China and that the UK should clearly state that the operation breached international law.

In a statement to the House of Commons on Monday evening, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said she had reminded US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of his obligations under international law, while reiterating that it was for the US to set out the legal basis for its actions.

Maduro and his wife were seized in Caracas on Saturday during a US military operation that also included strikes on military bases across the country. They were taken to New York, where they have been charged with weapons and drug-related offences over allegations that they enriched themselves through a violent crime ring smuggling cocaine into the US.

Maduro has long rejected the allegations as a pretext to force him from power, and both he and his wife have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Trump has vowed to “run the country” until a “proper” transition of power takes place, with Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez sworn in as interim president.