As President-elect Donald Trump continues to voice his renewed curiosity in buying Greenland as a territory of america, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen shared a message for him: “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.”
“Greenland shouldn’t be on the market,” Frederiksen mentioned Tuesday on Danish tv, according to the BBC and Politico EU.
Her feedback landed the identical day Donald Trump Jr. arrived on the Arctic island within the household’s branded jet for a quick, non-public go to. On social media, the president-elect referred to his eldest son, and people accompanying him, as his representatives.
Frederiksen’s feedback echoed these made by Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede after Donald Trump revived his 2019 idea to buy the land in an announcement saying his decide for ambassador to Denmark.
“Greenland is ours. We’re not on the market and can by no means be on the market. We should not lose our lengthy wrestle for freedom,” Egede mentioned final month.
The frigid island has been a territory of Denmark for a whole bunch of years, gaining rights to house rule within the twentieth century.
Trump said in December that “for functions of Nationwide Safety and Freedom all through the World, america of America feels that the possession and management of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”
He refused to rule out utilizing army power to take management of the island throughout a prolonged, rambling press convention Tuesday.
An independence motion in Greenland has led to better levels of autonomy over the previous a number of a long time for residents, who’re primarily Inuit. Egede reportedly hinted last week {that a} referendum on independence from Denmark could possibly be held as early as April of this 12 months.
EMIL STACH through Getty Photographs
Trump’s curiosity in Greenland stems from its mineral-rich deposits and strategic position between the U.S., Russia and China. The U.S. already operates a army base on the island to detect missiles headed for North America. Melting sea ice might also open up new routes for worldwide commerce because the local weather disaster worsens.
Frederiksen famous that whereas promoting off the territory could also be a non-starter, U.S. funding in Greenland is greater than welcome.
“We’ve got a transparent curiosity that it’s the U.S. that performs a big function in that area, and never, for instance, Russia,” she mentioned, according to Bloomberg.
Trump Jr. shared scenes from his go to on Instagram.
“That is the founder,” he said, pointing to a statue of Hans Egede, an 18th-century missionary who established the capital metropolis of Nuuk. “Simply unimaginable surroundings. Tremendous cool stuff.”
In one other video, right-wing activist Charlie Kirk holds the digicam as he pans to indicate Trump Jr. and a cadre of younger males.
“They love America. They love Trump. They wish to make the most of their assets,” Trump Jr. mentioned of the individuals he apparently met, talking onboard the household jet earlier than takeoff.
