Denmark dismisses Trump’s latest Greenland claims

Denmark has dismissed President Donald Trump’s latest remarks about the US acquiring Greenland through economic or military intervention.

News ID: ۲۰۰۰۶۹۱

22 January 2025

EghtesadOnline: Denmark’s Foreign Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, said on Tuesday that no country should be able to simply help themselves to another country.

“We cannot have a world order where countries, if they are big enough, no matter what they are called, can just help themselves to what they want.”

Commenting on Trump’s second term as US president, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also emphasized the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination.

Frederiksen also noted that Europe needs to “navigate a new reality” and that “the next four years would be difficult.”

Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede said on Tuesday, “Greenland is not for sale” and the island wanted to stake out its own future and did not want to become American.

“We want to be clear: we do not want to be Americans. We do not want to be part of the United States.”

“We do not want to be Americans. We do not even want to be Danes,” he reiterated.

After entering the Oval Office on Monday, Trump repeated his claims about the island. “Greenland is a wonderful place; we need it for international security.”

“I am sure that Denmark will come along … It is costing them a lot of money to maintain it, to keep it,” he added.

With a population of around 55,000, Greenland is an autonomous part of Denmark. The island is rich in fossil fuels and minerals.

Trump first proposed to acquire Greenland from Denmark in 2019. His offer made waves around the international community.

The world did not have to grapple with a sudden and unexpected American Arctic territorial expansion because he did not win the US election for a second time.

However, his victory in November and his claims about Greenland being an “absolute necessity” for US security has put the issue at the forefront of international affairs for a second time. / Mehr