But he added: “We need Greenland for national security and even international security. And we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it … And I think we’re going to get it one way or the other. We’re going to get it.”
A massive majority of Greenlanders — about 85 percent — oppose the idea of becoming part of the United States, according to a January poll.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has described Trump’s call for the U.S. to purchase the territory as “absurd,” while Greenland’s pro-independence Prime Minister Múte Egede said his people “don’t want to be Americans.”
Trump’s remarks earned a rebuke from Danish MEP Anders Vistisen of the nationalist, right-wing Danish People’s Party.
“Trump’s words make it clear that the United States views Greenland as a strategic asset, not as a people with the right to true self-determination,” Vistisen told POLITICO.
“If Trump truly wants a good relationship with Greenland, he should start by respecting their and Denmark’s sovereignty instead of trying to bully his way to influence,” he added.