Trump tells Davos won’t use force to gain Greenland as Western ties nosedive

US President Donald Trump ruled out the use of force in his bid to control Greenland in a speech in Davos on Wednesday, but said that no other country can secure the Danish territory – as the Western alliance is under historic strain over the bid.

The US president said Washington will seek "immediate negotiations" to obtain the strategic mineral-rich territory, also known as the world's largest island.

"People thought I would use force, but I don't have to use force," Trump said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Switzerland. "I don't want to use force. I won't use force."

Trump took a hectoring tone, chastising the United States' European allies for their insolence, disloyalty and policy missteps in areas ranging from wind power and the environment to immigration and geopolitics.

Trump's increasing threats to Europe over Greenland have frayed transatlantic ties and worried Europeans, overshadowing a speech that was intended to focus primarily on the US economy.

Calling Denmark "ungrateful," the Republican US president played down the issue as a "small ask" over a "piece of ice" and that an acquisition would be no threat to the NATO alliance, which includes Denmark and the United States.

"No nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States," Trump said, adding: "I'm seeking immediate negotiations to once again to discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States."

On several occasions during a speech which lasted more than an hour, Trump mistakenly referred to Greenland as Iceland.

Trump, who marked the end of a turbulent first year in office on Tuesday, is set to overshadow the agenda of the WEF, where global elites chew over economic and political trends.

NATO leaders have warned that Trump's Greenland strategy could upend the alliance, while the leaders of Denmark and Greenland have offered a wide array of ways for a greater US presence on the strategic island territory of 57,000 people.

"We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won't give it," Trump said in his speech to a packed congress hall.

Hundreds of delegates gathered in the lobby to listen or watch Trump's speech on video monitors or on mobile phones. After an hour, most of them had tuned out and resumed chatting.