Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she has asked to speak with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump amid his escalating remarks about taking control of Greenland — possibly by force.
“We have suggested a conversation [with Trump] and I expect it will take place,” Frederiksen told reporters Thursday night after a meeting with other senior Danish officials about the situation, adding she doesn’t expect the dialogue to take place until after Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
Trump has not yet responded to the overture, according to the Danish premier.
Frederiksen’s comments come just two days after the incoming U.S. president declined to rule out using military or economic force to gain control of Greenland, an expansionist vision he has repeatedly set out since his Nov. 5 election. The Danish prime minister on Tuesday replied firmly to Trump’s remarks about taking control of the island, stating: “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.”
While Trump’s comments have dominated headlines this week, Frederiksen declared on Thursday that there is “no reason to believe” the incoming president plans to invade Greenland, and emphasized the “close cooperation” between the two NATO allies.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen also downplayed Trump’s threats, saying: “You can take Donald Trump seriously without taking him literally.”
Rasmussen also said Denmark has “full respect” for Greenland’s desire for independence, adding: “We do not wish to have a confrontation with the commonwealth.”
The Arctic island, which has a population of around 60,000, has been an autonomous Danish territory since being granted so-called home rule in 1979. As the U.S. and Denmark spar over the resource-rich island, Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Egede reiterated a call for complete independence from Denmark to shed the “shackles of the colonial era.”
Donald Trump Jr., the U.S. president-elect’s eldest son, spent Tuesday in Greenland meeting with local residents and posting pictures to social media with locals decked out in MAGA gear, claiming that “Greenland loves America and Trump.” But a senior Greenlandic politician told POLITICO the visit was “staged” on Thursday, warning the U.S. not to “invade” the island and replicate its treatment of the indigenous people of Alaska.
Trump Jr. reportedly claimed during his visit that the Danish people exhibit racism toward native Greenlanders. Frederiksen on Thursday addressed those accusations, saying: “You can’t say that Danes are racists across the board,” while acknowledging that racism against Greenlanders does exist.
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