The outgoing prime minister of Greenland said Thursday that he plans to summon the leaders from all parties in the territory to issue a joint rejection of U.S. President Donald Trump’s effort to take control of the Arctic island.
During a Thursday Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump said U.S. control of Greenland could be important for national security reasons and even suggested that NATO should be involved.
When asked by a reporter about the U.S. taking over Greenland, Trump said, “I think it will happen.”
Outgoing Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede responded to Trump’s recent comments in a Facebook post, writing, “Enough is enough.”
“Now the American president has once again evoked the idea of annexing us. I absolutely cannot accept that,” Egede wrote.
He said he had summoned the leaders from all parties to come together “because this time we need to tighten our rejection to Trump.”
“Don’t keep treating us with disrespect,” he added.
During his meeting on Thursday, Trump said he was sitting “with the man who could be very instrumental” in helping the U.S. acquire Greenland, referencing Rutte, and told him that the U.S. needs the island for “national security.”
“I think that’s why NATO might have to get involved in a way because we really need Greenland for national security. It’s very important,” Trump said.
Rutte did not directly comment on Trump’s remarks about Greenland, but he did say he didn’t “want to drag NATO” into the issue.
“We know things are changing there, and we have to be there,” Rutte added.
After the conversation, Danish politician Rasmus Jarlov took to social media to say that Denmark did “not appreciate” the head of NATO “joking with Trump about Greenland.”
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“It would mean war between two NATO countries. Greenland has just voted against immediate independence from Denmark and does not want to be American ever,” Jarlov added.
Trump also said Thursday that Greenland’s election was “very good” for the United States and “the person who did the best is a very good person, as far as we’re concerned.”
Jens-Frederik Nielsen’s Demokraatit, a pro-business party that favours a slow path to independence, won in Greenland’s parliamentary election on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Nielsen, 33, pushed back against Trump’s comments about acquiring Greenland “one way or the other.”
“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 told Sky News. “And we want to build our own country by ourselves.”
Trump has been speaking about acquiring Greenland since he took office for the second time in January.
During his speech to Congress earlier this month, Trump said his administration was “working with everybody involved to try to get it,” referring to his wishes to acquire Greenland from Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally.
“We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America,” Trump said halfway through his 90-minute speech. “We will keep you safe. We will make you rich. And together we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before.
“It’s a very small population, but a very, very large piece of land. And very, very important for military security.”
Egede, Greenland’s outgoing prime minister, responded to Trump’s comments in his speech to Congress, saying, “Kalaallit Nunaat is ours,” using Greenlandic for the “Land of the People” or the “Land of the Greenlanders.”
On Jan. 20, Trump said, “Greenland is a wonderful place, we need it for international security. I’m sure that Denmark will come along — it’s costing them a lot of money to maintain it, to keep it.”
Egede also addressed those comments in January.
“We are Greenlanders,” he said. “We don’t want to be Americans. We don’t want to be Danish either. Greenland’s future will be decided by Greenland. Our country and our people will decide what happens to Greenland.”
Trump doubled down and said he wouldn’t rule out using force or economic pressure to make Greenland — a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally and a founding member of NATO — part of the United States. Trump said it was a matter of national security for the U.S.
Greenland is home to a large U.S. military base. Trump has cast doubts on the legitimacy of Denmark’s claim to Greenland.
In February, a new bill was introduced by U.S. Republican Rep. Buddy Carter that, if it passes the House and Senate, would give Trump the power to enter into negotiations with Denmark to acquire Greenland and rename it.
“America is back and will soon be bigger than ever with the addition of Red, White, and Blueland,” Carter said in a statement. “President Trump has correctly identified the purchase of what is now Greenland as a national security priority, and we will proudly welcome its people to join the freest nation to ever exist when our Negotiator-in-Chief inks this monumental deal.”
Carter’s proposal gives the Office of the Secretary of the Interior six months after the bill’s potential passage to ensure that federal documents are updated to reflect the new name of “Red, White, and Blueland.”
Trump initially voiced his interest in Greenland in 2019 during his first term in office. He said Greenland was “hurting Denmark very badly” and costing it US$700 million a year. His solution was to have the United States acquire Greenland, calling it “a large real estate deal.”
— With files from The Associated Press
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