Trump sends the army - occupies Greenland? VIDEO

"I think it will happen," the US president said of the island's annexation during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

"We really needed it for national security. I think that's why NATO might have to get involved," he added.

Trump then pointed out that the US already has a military base in Greenland.

"We already have several bases in Greenland and we have a lot of soldiers. You may see more and more soldiers going there," he threatened. "We have bases and plenty of soldiers in Greenland."

Tanjug/AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was sitting on a couch in the Oval Office during the conversation, nodded in agreement. The US has the Pituffik Space Base on the island, which supports missile warning and space surveillance operations.

Trump added that he would discuss it with Rutte.

But the NATO secretary refused to get involved.

"When it comes to Greenland, yes or no joining the US, I would leave that outside, for me, this discussion, because I don't want to direct NATO in that," Rutte said.

It's not the first time Trump has considered using military force to take control of territory he wants to add to the American map. In early January, after he was elected but before his inauguration, Trump indicated that he was willing to use force in both Greenland and Panama, where he wants control of the canal.

Trump rejected

Greenlanders, however, voted to reject President Trump's efforts to bring their island into the United States. Voters gave top spot in Tuesday's election to Democrat, a center-right party that has never been in power but strongly opposes the US takeover of the island, which is Danish territory.

Democrat leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the future prime minister, criticized Trump's call for Greenland to become an American territory.

"We don't want to be Americans. No, we don't want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders and we want our own independence in the future," Nielsen told Sky News.

"And we want to build our own country by ourselves."

The Greenland election was not just a rejection of Trump. The island's citizens also advocate independence in general, including separation from Denmark.

Second place went to a political party that wants independence from Copenhagen in the next three years.

Trump is interested in the island's strategic location in the North Atlantic and its mineral wealth. It is also believed to have natural gas and oil on its shores.

There are already fears in Greenland that Trump could take the island by force.

"I think most of us are scared of the new year because of (Trump's) interest," Pipaluk Lynge, a member of parliament from the ruling Inuit Ataqatigiit, or United Inuit, told The Associated Press.

"So we're really, really looking at Europe right now to see if we can establish a stronger relationship with them to secure our sovereign nation."

Greenland

Greenland is the largest island in the world and one of the least populated. About 56,000 people live in it.

Denmark has controlled it for almost 300 years. It became a formal territory in 1953, and gained state power in 1979.

Shutterstock/Ceri Breeze

Copenhagen, however, still prevents that the island contributes about $1 billion to its economy.

Greenlanders also have Danish passports and health care. Moreover, the island benefits from Denmark's membership in NATO and the EU.