Denmark’s Prime Minister calls on Trump to “stop making threats” about Greenland

Denmark’s prime minister on Sunday called on President Trump to “stop threatening” to annex Greenland after the US president reiterated his desire to annex the Danish territory.

Since returning to the White House a year ago, Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed that making Greenland part of the United States would serve US national security interests, given its strategic location in the Arctic. Greenland is also rich in key minerals used in high-tech sectors.

Trump’s latest comments on Greenland

In a letter published on Sunday, Mr. Trump reiterated his desire to annex Greenland, following his latest comments in an interview with Atlantic.

“We urgently require Greenland. We need it for defence,” he told the magazine.

Later that night, Mr Trump again told reporters aboard Air Force One, “We need Greenland from a national security standpoint, and Denmark is not going to be able to do that.”

“We’ll be worrying about Greenland in about two months,” Mr Trump said. “Let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days.”

His comments came a day after US forces captured the former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife during an overnight raid in Caracas. This raised concerns in Denmark that the same could happen in the Danish territory of Greenland.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement on Sunday that “it makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to annex Greenland.”

He said, “America has no right to occupy any of the three countries of the Danish Empire.” “So I would strongly urge the United States to stop making threats against a historically close ally, another country, and others who have said very clearly that they are not for sale,” she said.

In December, Mr. Trump nominated Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as the special envoy to Greenland, drawing renewed criticism from Denmark and Greenland.

Denmark’s reaction followed Katie Miller’s social media post.

And on Saturday, the wife of one of Mr. Trump’s most influential aides sparked criticism when she posted on social media a photo of Greenland painted with the colours of the United States flag.

Katie Miller, the wife of Mr. Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, controversially shared an altered image of the Danish autonomous region on her X feed late Saturday night, following a US military operation against Venezuela.

At the top of her post was one word: “Soon.”.

In response, Danish Ambassador to the US Jesper Moeller Sorensen reacted on Sunday with my post. “We expect full respect for the territorial integrity of Denmark” is written above the image of Katie Miller.

“We are close allies and we must continue to work together,” Sorensen said about Denmark’s relations with the United States. He stated that the two countries “work together to ensure security in the Arctic” and that they would “significantly boost their Arctic security efforts” in 2025, demonstrating how seriously they take their “joint security.”

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen also expressed his reaction. On social media he described Miller’s post as “offensive” but added that it “changes nothing” about his country’s freedom.

“Our country is not for sale and our future is not determined by social media posts,” Nielsen said in a statement translated from Greenland. “We are a democratic society with autonomy, free elections and strong institutions. Our position is clearly enshrined in international law and internationally recognised agreements. The fight continues.”

Stephen Miller is widely considered the architect of most of Mr Trump’s policies, guiding the president on his hardline immigration policies and domestic agenda. Katie Miller was deputy press secretary at the Department of Homeland Security during Mr Trump’s first term.

She later worked as communications director for then-Vice President Mike Pence and also served as his press secretary.