“We are not for sale and never will be.” This clarification from the Prime Minister of Greenland may seem absurd. But she comes to respond directly to Donald Trump, who has once again called into question the sovereignty of this autonomous territory of Denmark and raised the possibility of seeing it come under American control.
“For national security and freedom throughout the world, the United States of America believes that ownership and control of Greenland makes it an absolute necessity,” the future American president wrote this Sunday on his Truth Social network. , without specifying more clearly what he meant by that.
But these statements echo others made during his first term, in 2019 more precisely. Donald Trump then openly considered the purchase by the United States of this Arctic territory, evoking a potential “large real estate transaction” which would be “strategically interesting”.
Increasing provocations
The affair then caused a diplomatic crisis with Denmark, a member of NATO and to which this icy territory four times the size of France is attached. “Greenland is obviously not for sale,” the Greenlandic government reacted, while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen described Donald Trump’s offer as “absurd.” A statement that went down badly with the Republican, who had called the head of the Danish government “unpleasant,” and had canceled an official visit to Copenhagen.
“Greenland is ours. […] We will not abandon our long fight for freedom,” Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede once again clarified on Monday. Adding, however, that his territory must “remain open to international cooperation and trade, particularly with our neighbors. “.
In recent days, the former and next American president has made a series of shocking statements against his more or less direct neighbors. Earlier in the weekend, he threatened to regain control of the Panama Canal if passage rates were not reduced for American ships. And Donald Trump has multiplied the provocations in recent weeks regarding the sovereignty of Canada, which he assured that making it the 51st state of the United States would be an “excellent idea”.
Donald Trump’s statement this Sunday on Greenland also accompanied the announcement of his next ambassador to Copenhagen, Ken Howery, former American ambassador to Sweden, financier and co-founder of PayPal.
A territory that arouses desire
Autonomous since 1979, Greenland, 56,000 inhabitants on an immense territory of nearly 2.2 million square kilometers located some 2,500 km from the tutelary power, has its flag, its language, its culture, its institutions and a Prime minister.
Its natural resources (oil, gas, gold, diamond, uranium, zinc, lead) and global warming, which opens new maritime routes, arouse the desires of the United States, China and Russia in particular. Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, recently acquired a new airstrip in order to be able to land larger airliners and develop tourism. From summer 2025, Nuuk Airport will host two connections per week with New York.