Greenland rejects Trump's intention to buy: “We are not for sale”

US President-elect Donald Trump wants Greenland to be part of the US. “In the interest of national security and freedom in the world, the United States believes that possession and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday evening.

In the post, Trump also named his new ambassador to Denmark: Ken Howery, co-founder of the US payment service provider Paypal and ambassador to Sweden during Trump's first term in office.

Greenland's foreign representative Vivian Motzfeldt rejected Trump's new initiative on the Danish broadcaster TV2 as “nonsensical”. Prime Minister Múte B. Egede emphasized: “Greenland belongs to us. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long fight for freedom.” But we have to be open to economic cooperation. “Because all cooperation and all trade cannot go through Denmark,” it said in a statement to TV2.

Two Greenlandic MPs in the Danish Parliament were more open-minded. They are “open for business”, said Aaja Chemnitz. Her party, Inuit Ataqatigiit, would like to see greater American involvement in Greenland, especially in the areas of education and economic development.

Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam from the Siumut party said she was open to dialogue. Trump shows understanding for the strategic and global importance of Greenland, she told broadcaster DR. “But it is important to emphasize that Greenland is not a commodity or a geostrategic trophy.”

Trump wanted to buy Greenland as early as 2019

Trump had already proposed buying Greenland during his first term in office. The answer from Denmark at the time was clear: no. At the time, Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen rejected the purchase request as “absurd” and reiterated that the country was “not for sale”. She received a lot of applause from the Danes for her clear words.

After his first request, Trump appeared humorous on Facebook in 2019. He posted a photo of the Greenland coast where a Trump Tower stands and wrote: “I promise not to do this to Greenland.”

Harry Truman offered Denmark around $100 million for the island in 1946, and interest in the island revived at the end of the 1960s. Greenland, with around 56,000 inhabitants, is largely autonomous. Due to its location in the Arctic, its proximity to Russia, suspected mineral resources there and an important US military base, the island is strategically important not only for the USA.

At an event in the state of Arizona on Sunday, Trump also threatened to reclaim control of the Panama Canal. The canal connects the Atlantic with the Pacific and is one of the most important trade routes in the world. The USA carried out the construction of the large-scale project at the beginning of the 20th century – they then controlled the area for decades. Then control was gradually handed over to Panama.

Trump criticized that the canal was once built “at enormous cost to the United States” and then “foolishly given away” by President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981). He described the transit fees charged by Panama as “ridiculous and highly unfair.”

If the U.S. is not treated “fairly” and the “principles of this generous gesture of giving are not followed,” the U.S. would demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America “in full, expeditiously and without question,” it said Trump.