'You don’t know what I’m going to do': Trump rebukes reporter over Greenland incursion question

WASHINGTON, DC: Donald Trump bristled at a reporter’s question about using force to acquire Greenland. 

The exchange underscored Trump’s unwavering stance after he reiterated earlier this month that the United States “needs” Greenland for national security.

President Donald Trump looks at a bottle of milk during a bill signing event with dairy farmers in the Oval Office of the White House on January 14, 2026 in Washington, DC (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Trump and female reporter’s heated exchange at the White House

A female reporter questioned Trump at the White House on Wednesday, saying, “It sounds like you would potentially acquire Greenland by force. That would be a NATO country.”

The question appeared to irritate the president. “No, you’re saying that. I didn’t say it,” Trump shot back. “You’re telling me that that’s what I’m going to do, you don’t know what I’m going to do. Your network doesn’t know, either.”

The reporter then noted that Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen had visited the White House earlier that day and said Denmark had a “fundamental disagreement” with the United States over Greenland. She added that both Danes and Greenlanders view Trump’s proposal as “totally unacceptable.” She followed up by asking, “Are you willing to leave the NATO alliance in order to get what you want? What are the options right now?” 

Trump responded that he was “not going to give up options” or reveal his plans, again arguing that Greenland is critical to US national security. He went on to criticize Denmark’s ability to defend the island. “The problem is, there’s not a thing Denmark can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland,” Trump said. “But there’s everything we can do."

He pointed to the military’s recent capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro as evidence of US strength. “I can’t rely on Denmark to fend themselves off, you know they were talking about putting an extra dog, and they were serious about this, put an extra dogsled there last month,” Trump continued. “They added a second dogsled. That’s not gonna do the trick.”

As the reporter began to respond, saying, “Denmark fought alongside the United States in both Afghanistan and Iraq” Trump cut her off. “Thank you for telling me that, I appreciate it,” he said sarcastically, before adding that “something will work out” regarding Greenland. 

Trump rebukes reporter over questions about Iran

Donald Trump recently slammed a reporter during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One on Sunday, January 11. The moment unfolded as he took questions about escalating unrest in Iran and his recent warning that the United States would strike the country “very hard where it hurts” if the regime continued killing protesters.

When a reporter asked, “Do you think Iran takes your threats seriously?”, the president bristled and quickly shifted to his administration’s military record, arguing that past actions proved his warnings carried weight.

Trump then turned the question back on the press corps, singling out a network he has often criticized. “I think so. Don’t you think so, CNN?” he said. He pointed to previous US operations as evidence that adversaries understood his stance.

“Wouldn’t you say that they probably do at this point? After going through it for years with me, being hit, [Qasem] Soleimani, [Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi, the Iran nuclear threat wiped out,” Trump said.

“Don’t you think… ‘do you think they take your threat seriously?’ Wouldn’t you say they do after all of the things we’ve done? What a stupid question,” he added.