At the World Economic Forum in Davos, US President Donald Trump delivered a speech lasting more than an hour — and made several claims that were either false or misleading. Many centered on Greenland, US defense commitments, and NATO.
DW Fact check looked into some of the key statements.
Trump repeatedly spoke about the US military presence in Greenland during World War II, presenting it as territory the US had once "returned" to Denmark.
Claim: "We fought for Denmark. (...) We were fighting to save it. (...) All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland, where we had already been a trustee, but respectfully returned it to Denmark not long after we defeated the Germans, the Japanese, the Italians, and others in World War II. (...) We had it, and we gave it back to them."
DW Fact check: Misleading
The US did help defend Greenlandduring World War II, but it never owned the territory and therefore could not have "given it back" to Denmark.
Nor did the US fight a separate military campaign to liberate or "save" Denmark itself. When Nazi Germany occupied Denmark in April 1940, Greenland became cut off from the Danish government in Copenhagen.
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