President-elect Donald Trump has reiterated his interest in purchasing Greenland and given an interesting reply when asked to assure he wouldn’t use ‘military or economic coercion’ to take control of it.
Trump, who will return to the White House on January 20, has resurrected his call from his first presidency to buy the island, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark, saying it is ‘an absolute necessity’.
On Tuesday in a wide-ranging press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump even suggested that he could even use military force to acquire the Arctic nation.
Asked by a reporter if he could guarantee he won’t use military coercion to gain control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, Trump replied: ‘I’m not going to commit to that. It might be that you´ll have to do something.
‘The Panama Canal is vital to our country. We need Greenland for national security purposes.’
The world’s largest island has also long been viewed as key in terms of geopolitical position for America’s security, particularly from any attack from Russia.
Panama, on the other hand, is being ‘operated by China’, Trump has claimed.
Trump first proposed purchasing Greenland in 2019, calling it ‘essentially… a large real estate deal’ and adding ‘strategically it’s interesting’.
On Monday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform of the island: ‘We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!’
Last month, Trump wrote that the US should acquire Greenland ‘for purposes of National security and Freedom’.
Greenland is also rich in mineral resources that have not been tapped including coal, copper, diamonds, iron ore, oil and zinc.
Only a small fraction of the island has been explored due to the ice and glaciers, but they are melting which could make the resources more easily accessible. Ice loss has also opened more shopping routes to cut nautical travel in the summer of the Northern Hemisphere.
Greenland, which has more than 56,000 residents, belongs to Denmark. Denmark started colonizing Greenland in the 1700s, and the latter has representatives which sit in the Danish parliament.
While Greenland has controlled its own internal affairs for decades, its foreign relations are still overseen by Denmark. Greenland has pushed for its independence recently.
On Tuesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a TV interview reiterated Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Egede’s statement that ‘Greenland is not for sale’.
‘I want to make it very clear, that seen with the eyes of the Danish government, Greenland is for the Greenlandic people,’ said Frederiksen. ‘It is a very proud people, a language and culture, it is a people that is their own.’
Greenland and Denmark have both been vocal that the former is not for sale. But Greenland’s Inuit-controlled government has recently increased calls for independence.
However some Greenlandic politicians have proposed a special association status similar to the Marshall Islands’ arrangement with the US.
Some have floated Greenland having sovereignty and financial aid from the US in exchange for accommodating some American strategic interests.
It is not yet clear how far Trump will go to try to buy Greenland, and remains to be seen after Inauguration Day.
‘Nobody knows if it’s just bravado, if it’s a threat to get something else, or if it’s actually something that he wants to do,’ Danish Institute for International Studies senior researcher Ulrik Pram Gad told CNN.
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, and his representatives landed at Greenland’s capital Nuuk aboard his father’s Trump Force One private jet on Tuesday.
Greenland’s government stated that Trump Jr was visiting ‘as a private individual’ and that representatives from the island would not meet with him.
Trump Jr reportedly spent the day shooting video content for a podcast. ‘Greenland is beautiful!!!’ he wrote in an X (formerly Twitter) post along with a couple of photos of himself and others on the island.
Meanwhile, the president-elect wrote on Truth Social of his son’s trip: ‘The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!’
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