Greenland Hits Back at Trump’s Threat to Retake Vital Waterway

Greenland responds firmly to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to retake control over a crucial waterway, asserting its sovereignty.

Greenland has dismissed any notion of being sold to Washington following US President-elect Donald Trump’s statement that having control over the Arctic island would serve his country’s strategic and national interests.

The autonomous region of Denmark has a sparse population and is largely blanketed in snow and ice. During his first term in the White House, Trump brought up the possibility of purchasing the island.

“Greenland belongs to us,” stated the island’s Prime Minister, Mute Egede, in a statement reported by AFP on Monday. “We are not for sale and will never be available for purchase. Our long-standing fight for freedom must not be compromised.”

When announcing the nomination of the new US ambassador to Denmark on Sunday, Trump stated that “owning and controlling Greenland is essential” for the United States, citing it as crucial “for national security and global freedom.”

Trump did not explicitly mention an offer to purchase Greenland, leaving it uncertain whether his wording suggested that his incoming administration was open to the idea of forcibly taking the island from Denmark, a fellow NATO member.

In August 2019, an aide to Trump confirmed that the president at the time was interested in exploring a potential purchase of Greenland. The aide described it as “a strategic location” rich with valuable minerals.

The island is located over key trade routes in the Arctic Ocean and holds substantial deposits of uranium and precious metals. Gaining control of the island would enable the US to claim approximately 900,000 square kilometers of nearby continental shelf territory.

Despite Greenland spanning over 2.1 million square kilometers, its population numbers only about 55,000 residents, with nearly 90% being Inuit. Since the Treaty of Kiel in 1814, Denmark has regarded Greenland as part of its territory. It was governed as a colony until it attained home rule status in 1979 and acquired greater autonomy with local governance since 2009 to oversee internal affairs such as law enforcement and coast guard operations. In addition to having two representatives in the Danish parliament, Greenland depends on Copenhagen for matters like security and foreign policy and receives more than half of its budget support from Denmark.

In 1985, the island officially departed from the EU’s economic predecessor due to a disagreement over fishing rights, but it continues to be connected to the bloc through its affiliation with Denmark.