Danish leader’s blunt five word response to Trump’s plans to ‘buy Greenland’

Greenland’s prime minister simply said that ‘we are not for sale’ after Donald Trump again suggested he wanted the United States to take control of the island.

Trump, 78, made the stark statement Sunday evening as he announced his choice for ambassador to Denmark: PayPal co-founder Ken Howery, who also served as the U.S. ambassador to Sweden from 2019 to 2021.

“For purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world, the United States of America believes that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” he wrote on Truth Social.

The island’s Prime Minister, Mute Egede, quickly tried to quash any chance of a deal.

‘Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and never will be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom,” he said in a statement.

Greenland, the largest island in the world, is an autonomous Danish territory with its own parliament, about 55,000 inhabitants and a small pro-independence movement.

The country depends on Denmark to finance more than half of its government budget.

Trump wrote on Sunday that “the United States of America, for reasons of national security and freedom throughout the world, believes that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”

He previously expressed interest in purchasing Greenland during his first presidential term.

Trump was publicly rebuffed by Danish authorities – who reiterated that the island was “open for business, not for sale” – before any talks could take place.

His renewed interest in purchasing Greenland comes amid a series of comments about territorial expansion, including invading Mexico and turning Canada into a U.S. state. He also threatened to reassert US control of the Panama Canal.

Although he has publicly considered expanding U.S. territory, Trump has not shared a specific plan to do so or revealed how much America would pay for such acquisitions.

The Charters Cities Institute, a DC-based nonprofit that has analyzed a potential purchase of Greenland, argues that a purchase is unlikely unless the US made an offer that was attractive to all Greenlanders – such as offering $500 billion, equally distributed among all citizens.

As president, he canceled a state trip to Denmark in 2019 after the country said Greenland was not for sale.

The US offered Denmark $100 million in gold for Greenland in 1946, which, adjusted for inflation, amounted to about $1.4 billion in 2019.

However, the valuation does not include the natural resources or diplomatic importance that Greenland, the largest island in the world, currently has. Times Now News reports.

Greenland, which covers approximately 836,000 square kilometers, is a mineral-rich region almost entirely covered by ice caps and of strategic value for shipping lanes, military interests and Arctic sovereignty.

Although Trump is interested in the benefits that American control of Greenland would bring, it is unclear how the Greenlandic public would feel about an American purchase.

According to Greenlanders, they have largely supported Denmark’s independence Charters Cities Institutewhich cited a 2019 poll that found two-thirds of citizens “supported full independence.”

A poll taken two years later also found that 69 percent of Greenlanders supported closer cooperation with the US. The same poll also showed that 68 percent of people were in favor of greater cooperation with Denmark.

Charters Cities Institute says that given public support for independence, it is unlikely that Greenlanders would support America’s purchase of the island.

However, the organization suggested that a significant payout, which would put money in every citizen’s pocket, could “change some minds.”

Analysts proposing a hypothetical offer suggested that a $500 billion purchase spread evenly among all Greenlanders – which would give each citizen a check for about $8.7 million – could be enough to sweeten the deal.

Under President Joe Biden, the United States said it did not want a purchase but instead sought to strengthen ties.

When asked in 2021 whether the US had definitively ruled out plans to buy Greenland, President Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken replied with a smile: “I can confirm that that is correct.”

The US wants to strengthen its relationship with Greenland, especially on a commercial level, Blinken said during a visit to the island.

He visited the Danish autonomous region at the end of a four-day trip that included a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Arctic countries in Reykjavik.

“I am in Greenland because the United States deeply values ​​our partnership and wants to make it even stronger,” Blinken told reporters during his final stop of the Arctic tour.

In 2020, the US reopened a consulate in the Greenlandic capital of Nuuk and pledged $12 million in aid for civilian projects.

While talking about possible additional financing, Blinken was vague about new U.S. projects, even though Greenland’s new local government had floated the idea of ​​a free trade deal earlier this week.

“We are eager to find ways to further strengthen the commercial relationship,” Blinken said.

Greenland’s new young Prime Minister Mute Egede, who came to power in April, said he was “convinced that this decade will be the beginning of a new era in the relationship between our countries.”

The left-wing government, which won snap parliamentary elections last month, is allied with a small pro-independence party, Naleraq, which has shown support for restoring ties with the US.