United States President Donald Trump has stepped up his campaign to acquire Greenland, declaring the Danish territory essential to Washington’s national security and appointing a special envoy he said would “lead the charge”.
Trump’s comments on Monday came as the leaders of Denmark and Greenland protested against remarks by the new envoy, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, who said he would make the Arctic territory “a part of the US”.
Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, Trump reiterated his position that Greenland is vital to US defence interests.
“We need Greenland for national security, not for minerals,” the US president said. “If you take a look at Greenland, you look up and down the coast, you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place… We have to have it.”
The remarks followed Trump’s Sunday announcement of Landry’s appointment, in which he praised the governor for understanding “how essential Greenland is to our national security”.
Landry subsequently posted on X that it was “an honour to serve… in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the US”, adding that the role would not affect his gubernatorial duties.
Landry’s statement drew a sharp rebuke from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who issued a joint statement asserting that “Greenland belongs to Greenlanders”.
“You cannot annex another country. Not even with an argument about international security,” they said. “The US shall not take over Greenland.”
Nielson wrote separately on Facebook that the US moves “may sound big, but it does not change anything for us”. “We decide our own future,” he said.
Frederiksen added in an Instagram post, “It is a difficult situation that our allies for a lifetime are putting us in.”
Earlier on Monday, Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he would summon US envoy Kenneth Howery to express his country’s deep anger over Landry’s appointment. Rasmussen also called the governor’s comments on annexing Greenland “totally unacceptable”.
The Trump administration also put further pressure on Copenhagen on Monday, when it suspended leases for five large offshore wind projects being built off the East Coast of the US, including two being developed by Denmark’s state-controlled Orsted.
The European Union, meanwhile, swiftly rallied behind Denmark.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa declared “full solidarity” with Copenhagen and emphasised that “territorial integrity and sovereignty are fundamental principles of international law”.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly declared that the US “needs” the resource-rich island and declined to rule out the use of military force to secure it. The self-governing territory, which lies between Europe and North America, hosts a key US ballistic missile defence system and has substantial mineral deposits, which could reduce US reliance on Chinese exports.
According to an opinion poll conducted in January, the vast majority of Greenland’s 57,000 people want to become independent from Denmark, but they do not wish to become part of the US.