Greenland has made it clear that it is not for sale, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday, in response to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s fixation with buying the massive Arctic island.
Frederiksen said Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Egede “has been very, very clear … that there is a lot of support among the people of Greenland that Greenland is not for sale and will not be in the future either.”
The Danish leader’s remarks come after Trump suggested purchasing Greenland from Denmark last month, calling a U.S. acquisition of the Arctic territory an “absolute necessity.” He also made the proposal in 2019 during his first term.
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., landed in Greenland on Tuesday on what he called a private visit. But his entourage included firebrand conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the elder Trump’s personnel director, Sergio Gor. Trump Sr. described them as his representatives.
“Don Jr. and my Reps landing in Greenland. The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote in a Tuesday post on his social media platform Truth Social.
“On one hand, I am really happy regarding the rise in American interest in Greenland,” Frederiksen said in an interview Tuesday with Danish broadcaster TV 2. “But of course it is important that it takes place in a way where it is the Greenlanders’ decision, what their future holds.”
Greenland, the world’s largest island with a population of around 60,000, was a Danish colony until it became self-ruling with its own parliament in 1979. It remains a territory of Denmark, with Copenhagen exercising control over its foreign and defense policy.
As global powers seek to expand their reach and footprint in the Arctic, mineral-rich Greenland — which hosts a U.S. military base — is coveted for its strategic value in security and trade.
Frederiksen, who in 2019 described Trump’s bid to purchase the island as “absurd,” said it was up to Greenlanders to decide their own future, calling the growing independence movement on the island “legitimate.”
“I can notice a strong wish amongst many Greenlanders to move toward independence,” she said. “It is legitimate, and therefore I think that it is important that Greenland’s future is shaped in [the Greenlandic capital] Nuuk.”
Under a 2009 agreement with Denmark, Greenland can declare independence only after a successful referendum — which its leader Egede appeared to hint, during his New Year’s address, might be held in tandem with the island’s upcoming parliamentary election in April.
Jakob Weizman contributed to this report.
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