Rutte, for his part, said he did not “want to drag NATO” in the discussion, but acknowledged Greenland’s importance for Arctic security in light of Chinese and Russian interests.
Trump caused a stir in January when he said the Danish territory and world’s largest island is an “absolutely necessity” for American security, and refused to rule out economic or military coercion to gain control of it.
Greenland has been a part of the Danish Commonwealth since 1953, when it was upgraded from colony status after over 200 years.
“Denmark is very far away,” Trump said, adding that Copenhagen is not in a position to provide protection.
Múte B. Egede, Greenland’s leader, responded immediately to Trump’s comments on Thursday, saying “enough is enough” and calling the island’s party leaders to a meeting to “strengthen our rejection of Trump.”
Egede is seeing out his last days in office after losing in Greenland’s elections on Tuesday, which Trump called “a good election for us.” The U.S. president complimented the election’s winner, Jens-Frederik Nielsen of the Democratic Party, as “a very good person.”