Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire for the U.S. to purchase Greenland, describing the Danish territory and world’s largest island as an “absolutely necessity” for American security.
“We need Greenland for national security purposes,” he said Tuesday. “People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do they should give it up because we need it for national security.”
Greenland, which has a population of around 60,000, was a Danish colony until it became self-ruling with its own parliament in 1979. It remains a territory of Denmark, with Copenhagen exercising control over its foreign and defense policy.
As global powers seek to expand their reach and footprint in the Arctic, the mineral-rich island — which hosts a U.S. military base — is coveted for its strategic security and trade value.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who rebuffed Trump’s first proposal to purchase Greenland in 2019, calling it “absurd,” had already reiterated Tuesday — before Trump’s refusal to rule out taking Greenland by force — that “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.”
“There is a lot of support among the people of Greenland that Greenland is not for sale and will not be in the future either,” she added.