SHOTLIST:

WASHINGTON DC, US (JAN. 13, 2025) (ANADOLU – ACCESS ALL)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) US HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON SAYING:

"I don't think anybody is, is, considering that I mean, it's it's not been in any briefing I've been in, and I go to all of them. Okay. It's not this is not a I think this is a media narrative that's been created. I do, we've been very clear. I mean, the article one branch is is clear.

There's no declaration of war pending for Greenland. It's not just not a thing. I don't anticipate, any boots on the ground anywhere, anytime soon. And I look, there are negotiations. There is interest in Greenland for US interests. America's, first interest. It has to do with national security and, critical minerals and many other reasons.

And we've long acknowledged that. I mean, it goes back to the I think the Truman administration was the first president who expressed a direct interest in being involved there. We've had military operations there over the years. Some of it's been dormant in recent years. But, it's a serious, area on the globe with regard to our competition with China and Russia and, some of our other, the people we would regard as adversaries and many of these issues.

Greenland is, strategic of strategic importance. It's geography and everything else. So look, again, you have to wait for that to play out. I'm going to leave it to the administration to, to articulate it how they will. But I think what the president has articulated is something that everybody objectively has to acknowledge. The Greenland has strategic significance to us and and also to other countries around the world. So we need play that very seriously." WASHINGTON DC, US - JAN. 13: The US House speaker said Tuesday that he does not anticipate any US military deployment related to Greenland, pushing back against speculation of a possible military takeover.

"We’ve been very clear … There’s no declaration of war pending for Greenland. It’s just not a thing. I don’t anticipate any boots on the ground anywhere, anytime soon," Mike Johnson told a news conference on Capitol Hill.

Asked whether President Donald Trump should explicitly rule out the idea of a military takeover of Greenland – something he has declined to do – Johnson said: "I don't think anybody is considering that.”

He added: "I mean, it's not been in any briefing I've been in, and I go to all of them ... I think this is a media narrative that's been created.”

Johnson acknowledged that Greenland remains an area of growing interest for the US, particularly in terms of national security and access to critical minerals.

Stressing that it is a "serious area" of the globe in terms of US competition with China and Russia, he said Greenland has "strategic importance. It's geography and everything else. So look, again, you have to wait for that to play out. I'm going to leave it to the administration to articulate it how they will."

Trump on Sunday argued that acquiring Greenland is necessary for the US to prevent Russia or China from gaining control of the strategic Arctic territory, which belongs to Denmark.

Both Denmark and Greenland have rejected any proposal to sell the territory, reaffirming Danish sovereignty over the island.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to meet Danish and Greenland officials this week, according to media reports.