WASHINGTON 

US President Donald Trump denied on Wednesday that concerns about amassing more rare earth minerals are driving his push to acquire the Danish territory of Greenland.

"I want Greenland for security. I don't want it for anything else. We have so much rare earth, we don't know what to do with it. We don't need it for anything else," Trump said as he met NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

"In terms of Greenland, you know, you have to go 25 feet (8 meters) down through ice to get it. It's not something that a lot of people are going to do, or want to do. No, this is security we're talking about," he added.

Greenland has attracted Trump's attention due to its strategic Arctic position, extensive mineral resources and alleged concerns about a growing Russian and Chinese presence.

Critics have said his drive to acquire Greenland threatens to tear apart the Western alliance, which is what China and Russia want most. They add that the US could easily defend Greenland from outside threats using existing treaties allowing numerous US bases and forces on the island.

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

Asked what kind of deal he would like to see between the US and Denmark, Trump declined to specify earlier Wednesday, saying, "We'll see what happens."

"It's costing Denmark hundreds of millions a year to run it, and Denmark's a small country and wonderful people, but, you know, it's very expensive. It's a very big piece of ice," Trump said during a fireside chat at the WEF.

He reiterated that the territory is "very important".

"It's very important that we use that for national and international security that can create a power that will make it impossible for the bad guys to do anything against the perceived good ones," he added.