“Greenland is ours. We are not and will not be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.”
That was the message from Greenland’s leftist Prime Minister Moute Egede on Monday after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump once again called for the Danish territory to be taken into U.S. ownership. It’s the latest in a series of what critics are calling imperialistic statements by Republican leaders.
“For purposes of national security and freedom around the world, the United States of America feels that ownership and control of Greenland is absolutely necessary,” President Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday. he wrote in a post announcing his nomination to . Ken Howley becomes Ambassador to Denmark.
During his first term, Trump directed aides to consider whether the United States could purchase Greenland, home to the U.S. Space Force’s Pitafiq Space Station. Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed the idea as “ridiculous” and urged President Trump to cancel a planned state visit to the Nordic countries.
Arja Chemnitz of the democratic socialist Inuit Atkatigit (People’s Communities) party, which represents Greenland in Denmark’s parliament, told Ritzau that treating Greenland as something that could be acquired was “a very It’s rude,” he said.
“I think the words ‘ownership’ and ‘control’ of a future U.S. president who controls the entire foreign and security policy of the Western world are pretty clear indications that he intends to purchase Greenland.” she stated.
Mr Chemnitz also took aim at Denmark’s “disrespectful” politicians who “say this is the only decision for Denmark”.
“This will be a decision for Greenland and Greenlanders,” she said. “We have expanded Greenland’s autonomy, and as far as I know, no political party wants to be an American citizen in Greenland.”
The people of Greenland have a complicated relationship with the United States. A 2021 survey found that a majority of Americans want closer ties with the United States, while a B-52 bomber crashed into the sea ice of Wolstenholme Fjord in 1968, carrying four thermonuclear warheads. Many people remain wary of incidents including those lost to “broken arrows.” The accident caused widespread radioactive contamination, and the nuclear fuel components of one of the bombs have not been recovered to this day.
President Trump’s recent comments on Greenland came on the same day he threatened to take back control of the Panama Canal and after he suggested making Canada the “51st state.” President Trump and senior members of his transition team are also reportedly considering the question of how far into Mexico they should invade.
The United States occupied half of Mexico’s territory after invading Mexico under false pretenses in 1846, one of at least 10 invasions of its southern neighbor. More recently, U.S. forces invaded Panama in 1989 after accusing their former ally, General Manuel Noriega, of involvement in drug trafficking. At least several hundred Panamanian civilians and up to 2,000 to 3,000 Panamanian civilians and 23 U.S. military personnel were killed.
Panama’s right-wing president Jose Raul Mulino responded to President Trump’s threat on social media on Sunday, saying: “Every square meter of the Panama Canal and surrounding area belongs to Panama and always will.” .
President Trump responded, “We’ll see about that!”
