Greenland’s new leader has responded to further belligerent rhetoric from Donald Trump by telling the American president there’s no way the country will become part of the United States.
Speaking on Sunday, Trump reinforced the possibility of the U.S. using military force to capture the mineral-rich Arctic island, which recently elected Jens-Frederik Nielsen as its prime minister.
Responding to reports that Trump had said “we’ll get Greenland,” Nielsen, who was sworn in on March 28, said: “Let me be clear: The United States will not get that. We do not belong to others. We decide our own future.”
Nielsen wants Greenland ultimately to achieve independence through economic self-reliance. The island is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, which sends it hundreds of millions of euros a year in subsidies, but is not part of the European Union.
Meanwhile, Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, want to make Greenland American. On a visit to the icy realm last week, Vance made overtures to Greenlanders in his trademark diplomatic style, badmouthing Denmark and telling them that military intervention won’t be needed if they’ll “cut a deal” with the U.S.
“We must not be shaken,” said Nielsen in a Facebook post on Sunday. “We must react with calm, dignity and unity. And it is through these values that we must clearly, distinctly and calmly show the American president that Greenland is ours.”
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