Donald Trump wants Ken Howery, co-founder of Paypal and US ambassador to Sweden during his first term, to be appointed ambassador to Denmark. He also asserted that U.S. “ownership and control of Greenland” is an “absolute necessity.”
The American president-elect, Donald Trump, chose his American ambassador to Denmark – and took the opportunity to reiterate his ambitions vis-à-vis Greenland. Donald Trump appointed Ken Howery, co-founder of the online payment service Paypal and US ambassador to Sweden during his first term.
“Ken is a world-renowned entrepreneur, investor and public servant who brilliantly served our nation during my first term as U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, where he led efforts to strengthen defense, security and economic cooperation between our two countries”, declared Donald Trump on the social network Truth Social this Sunday, December 22. The nomination of Ken Howery remains subject to validation by the Senate, with a Republican majority.
Before adding a sentence about Greenland, the constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark which Donald Trump has been eyeing since his first term. The president-elect, who will be inaugurated in January, said Sunday that “for reasons of national security and freedom around the world, the United States of America believes that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”
Receptions, trips, decrees… Donald Trump, president not yet inaugurated but already omnipresent
Donald Trump wanted to “buy” Greenland
Greenland is a gigantic Arctic island, four times the size of France and rich in natural resources (water, oil, gas, gold, nickel, uranium…). In 2019, Donald Trump raised the idea of buying this territory which has had political autonomy since 1979. He even canceled a visit to Denmark in the face of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's refusal to “sell” Greenland.
The Prime Minister had in fact considered that it was an “absurd discussion”. “Greenland is not Danish. Greenland is Greenlandic,” declared Mette Frederiksen.
“Greenland is rich in resources, including minerals, such as the purest water and ice, fish, seafood, renewable energy, and is a new frontier in adventure tourism. We have it all. resell, we are not for sale”, reacted the Greenland Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the Navy's Center for Strategic Studies, this is not the first time the United States has attempted to purchase Greenland. Two purchase proposals were declined in the 19th century and in 1946, explains the research organization attached to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces in a 2019 note.
