In response to Donald Trump’s claims about a possible annexation of Greenland by the United States, Demokraatit leader and likely new local prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, firmly rejected this possibility.
“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 said, “We want to build our own country by ourselves.”
For his part, the U.S. president, during a meeting with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, welcomed the center-right’s victory in Greenland, saying, “It’s very good thing for us.” Trump then spoke again about the possibility of annexing the territory, explaining, “I think it’ll happen.”
The outgoing prime minister, Múte Egede, who, in the recent past had already strongly rejected Trump’s statements regarding the island’s future, also spoke on the issue.
“Enough is enough”, he said, “This time we need to toughen our rejection of Trump. People cannot continue to disrespect us. The American president has once again evoked the idea of annexing us. I absolutely cannot accept that. I respect the result of the election, but I consider that I have an obligation as interim head of government: I have therefore asked the administration to summon the party heads as soon as possible.”
Since his return to the White House, President Trump has reiterated that U.S. control of Greenland could be important for national security reasons, given also the significant investments by Russia and China at the Arctic region.
Already during his first term, the MAGA leader had set his sights on the island. Greenland, whose population is around 56,000, is an area rich in natural resources such as gold, silver, copper and uranium, and there is significant potential for oil extraction in the surrounding waters.
During his meeting with Rutte, Trump also talked about Denmark, wondering if the country still has the right to claim Greenland for itself. “A boat landed there 200 years ago or something. And they say they have rights to it,” Trump said. “I don’t know if that’s true. I don’t think it is, actually.”
