Asked if Greenland had conveyed the message that it is not up for grabs directly to Trump, Egede said his government was trying to set up a meeting with the U.S. leader to do just that.
“That’s what we’re working on,” Egede said. “You can’t get around the fact that if they [the U.S.] want to talk about Greenland, they have to talk to Greenland.”
Such a meeting could be held in the next few days, said Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, who joined Egede at the press conference.
Trump has already spoken with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who told him last week in a reportedly testy 45-minute phone call that Greenland is not for sale.
Egede also ruled out the possibility of Greenland becoming an American state on Tuesday. “The Greenlandic people must make it clear what they want to be. We do not want to be Danes. We do not want to be Americans,” he said.
Trump predicted Monday that Denmark would be unable to “keep” Greenland as a territory, and added it was important the U.S. control it in the face of threats from Russia and China.