Denmark has strongly rejected the idea of ceding control of Greenland since the controversy erupted a few weeks ago.
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Donald Trump Jr arrived in Greenland on Tuesday, amid controversy sparked by his father, US President-elect Donald Trump.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to acquire the Arctic country and make it American property. The future US president floated the idea of buying the country from Denmark, a proposal that was quickly and harshly rejected by Copenhagen, which stressed that Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland and that the country is not for sale .
After Trump Jr’s arrival in Greenland, Donald Trump added to the controversy. At a press conference held at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, estate just two weeks before his second term as president, he reiterated his interest in taking control of the countrynow a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark, for reasons of national security.
Donald Trump, who is due to be inaugurated on January 20, has even refused to rule out the use of military force to achieve his objective.
Responding to a journalist who asked him to guarantee that methods of military and economic coercion would not be used to seize Greenland and the Panama Canal, which he also covets, he said: “I cannot tell you You’re talking about Panama and Greenland. No, I can’t assure you either. But I can tell you this.
“We need Greenland for national security reasons. That’s what I’ve been told for a long time, way before I ran. People have been talking about this for a long time. There are about 45,000 people in Greenland. People don’t even know if Denmark has a legal right to this territory. But if it does, it should give it up because we need it for our national security. This is for the free world. to protect the free world. look, you don’t even need binoculars. You look out there, there are Chinese ships everywhere. There are Russian ships everywhere. We will not let this happen,” Mr. Trump added.
Denmark has strongly rejected the idea of ceding control of Greenland since the controversy erupted a few weeks ago. On Tuesday, Danish Chief Executive Mette Frederiksen reaffirmed this position, declaring: “Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people.” The Danish prime minister added that the United States was its “closest ally” in security and defense matters, but maintained that Copenhagen’s position would not weaken.
Mr. Trump even threatened to “tax Denmark at a very high level” if it did not cooperate with his offer to buy the island.
Trump Jr, who arrived in the capital Nuuk aboard his father’s private plane, was greeted by journalists who questioned the purpose of his visit.
Many believe that Trump Jr was sent to Greenland by his father to possibly meet with officials, carry out secret tasks or gather information that could be useful to Trump if he followed through on his threats.
Trump Jr denied the speculation and insisted that his visit – along with some of his friends – is purely personal, and that he is coming to Greenland as a tourist only.
“We’re just here as tourists, to see, it looks like an amazing place, we’ve been talking about going there for a while, I was actually supposed to be here last spring with some of the things which I do in my free time But I’m really looking forward to being here, it’s a great country, the scenery was spectacular when I arrived, so I’m really looking forward to being here Thank you,” said M. . Trump Jr in response to a journalist who questioned the purpose of his visit.
Trump Jr and his traveling companions rushed to leave Nuuk airport, refusing to speak to worried media. “We’re a little pressed for time because we only have a few hours of daylight, so we have to see everything.”
In response to a journalist who asked him to guarantee that methods of military and economic coercion would not be used to seize Greenland and the Panama Canal, which his father also covets, Donald Trump Jr replied: “He says hello …we spoke to him yesterday, so he said hello to everyone in Greenland.”
Trump Jr. is not expected to stay in the country for long. Before his arrival, Greenlandic authorities said they were informed of the visit to ensure appropriate security measures were taken at the airport. They say the plans they received suggest the visit was relatively short, lasting only between four and five hours.
ADVERTISEMENTA remote but resource-rich island occupies a key position in a warming world
Remote, icy and virtually pristine, Greenland plays a huge role in the daily weather patterns of billions of people and in the climate changes taking place across the planet.
According to Geoff Dabelko, a professor of security and environment at Ohio University, Greenland is where climate change, scarce resources, tense geopolitics and new business models intersect.
The world’s largest island is now “at the heart of geopolitical and geoeconomic competition in many ways,” in part because of climate change, Mr. Dabelko said.
According to David Holland, a climatologist at New York University, Greenland is the open door of a refrigerator or the thermostat of a warming world, and it is in a region that is warming four times faster than the rest of the globe.
ADVERTISEMENTInside are valuable rare earth minerals necessary for telecommunications, as well as l’uraniumbillions of barrels of oil unexploited and vast reserves of natural gasformerly inaccessible, but which are less and less so.
Many of these minerals are currently supplied primarily by China, so other countries, such as the United States, are interested, Mr. Dabelko said. Three years ago, the Danish government suspended oil exploitation off the coast of this territory of 57,000 inhabitants.
