▲ U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a special address during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 21, 2026, in this photo, released by AFP. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Trump-Davos Forum

(LEAD) Trump touts 'historic' deals with S. Korea, Japan, others; stresses push to acquire Greenland

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with more remarks, details)

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday touted "historic" trade deals with South Korea, Japan and European nations, calling them "our partners," while reiterating his push to acquire Greenland, the Arctic territory of Denmark, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Trump delivered a speech during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, touching on what his administration has achieved since his return to the White House a year ago, and renewing criticism of a "mess" that he argued he inherited from the former Joe Biden administration.

"We've made historic trade deals with partners covering 40 percent of all U.S. trade, some of the greatest companies and countries in the world. We have countries as our partners too -- the European nations, Japan, South Korea," he said.

"They've gone into massive deals with us, especially on oil and gas, and these agreements raise growth and cause stock markets to boom, not only in the U.S., but virtually every country that came to make a deal because ... when the United States goes up, you follow," he added.

He was referring to the trade and investment deals that he secured with a range of trading partners, including South Korea, by using country-specific "reciprocal" tariffs as a key source of negotiating leverage.

Under their bilateral trade deals with the Trump administration, Seoul, Tokyo and the European Union have committed to investing US$350 billion, $550 billion and $600 billion, respectively, in return for Washington's lowering of reciprocal tariffs to 15 percent.

Touching on his ambitions for U.S. control of Greenland, Trump stressed the U.S.' ability to "secure" the Danish territory and ruled out the use of "force" for a takeover of the island, while decrying Denmark as "ungrateful."

"The fact is no nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the U.S.," he said, noting that he has "tremendous" respect for the people of Denmark and Greenland.

"We are a great power, much greater than people even understand. I think they found that out two weeks ago in Venezuela," he added, referring to the military operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in Caracas to have him face American justice for drug trafficking and other charges.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has indicated that the Trump administration was considering a range of options, including the use of the U.S. military for the commander-in-chief regarding the Greenland issue. But Trump excluded the military option.

"People thought I would use force, but I don't have to use force. I don't want to use force. I won't use force," he said.

"All the U.S. is asking for is a place called Greenland, where we already had it as a trustee, but respectfully returned it back to Denmark not long ago, after we defeated the Germans, the Japanese, the Italians and others in World War II."

Trump also said that during World War II, the U.S. fought for Denmark, which he said "was totally unable to defend either itself or Greenland" at the time.

"After the war, we gave Greenland back to Denmark. How stupid were we to do that, but we did it, but we gave it back," he said. "How ungrateful are they now?"

Moreover, he argued that without U.S. intervention during the war, "you'd all be speaking German and little Japanese."

The president reiterated the strategic value of Greenland, pointing out rare earth reserves in the island and citing both national and international security grounds for his push to buy Greenland.

"Greenland is a vast, almost entirely uninhabited and undeveloped territory sitting undefended in a key strategic location between the United States, Russia and China

He went on to say, "This enormous unsecured island is actually part of North America on the northern frontier of the Western Hemisphere. That's our territory. It is therefore a core national security interest of the United States of America."

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