Greenlandic political leaders have strongly rebuffed US President Donald Trump’s latest statements about annexing their island territory, with both outgoing and incoming prime ministers issuing firm rejections.
Trump expressed confidence during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Thursday that a US takeover of Greenland “will happen,” claiming it was necessary for “international security.”
“We need that for international security. Not just security, international,” Trump said, also questioning Denmark’s territorial rights to the island. “A boat landed there 200 years ago or something. And they say they have rights to it. I don’t know if that’s true.”
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Outgoing Prime Minister Mute Egede responded forcefully on social media, writing, “The US president has once again aired the thought of annexing us. Enough is enough.” Egede announced plans to summon party leaders to strengthen their collective rejection of the American proposal.
“This time we need to toughen our rejection of Trump. People cannot continue to disrespect us,” Egede added, while continuing to lead in a caretaker capacity as a new government forms.
The stance was echoed by Jens-Frederik Nielsen, whose center-right Democrats party won Tuesday’s parliamentary election with 29.9% of the vote, a significant jump from 9.1% four years ago.
“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 the media. “And we want to build our own country by ourselves.”
The Democrats campaigned on improving housing and education while taking a measured approach to independence, promising to delay it until Greenland achieves economic self-sufficiency.
Greenland, home to approximately 57,000 people, has gradually increased its autonomy from Denmark, gaining self-governance powers in 2009 while Denmark retains control over security, defense, foreign and monetary policy.
The territory has gained strategic importance as the US, Russia, and China compete for influence in the Arctic region.
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