Greenlands

Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday summoned a top United States diplomat in the country to discuss intelligence reports that US citizens have secretly tried to influence people in Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump, to oppose Danish rule.

Here is what Denmark has accused the US of doing and why Trump has ambitions to acquire Greenland.

What has Denmark accused the US of?

Denmark summoned Mark Stroh, the US charge d’affaires in Denmark, after the Danish public broadcaster, DR, reported on Wednesday that at least three Americans with links to Trump had been carrying out covert operations that sought to encourage Greenland to break away from Denmark and instead join the US. DR cited unnamed sources.

Greenland, which is situated between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, is the world’s largest island and is geographically part of North America.

The three American individuals, who DR reported were being closely watched by Danish authorities, were not named by the broadcaster. Their alleged activities include compiling lists of Greenlanders who support Trump and gathering information about tensions between Denmark and Greenland.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said: “Any interference in internal affairs in the kingdom of Denmark, and Greenlandic democracy, is unacceptable.”

“I note that the Americans have not clearly rejected the DR report today, and that is of course serious,” Fredriksen told Danish television.

Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Lars Lokke Rasmussen also told AFP that he was aware of the “foreign actors” interested in Greenland’s position within Denmark.

Christine Nissen, chief analyst at Copenhagen-based think tank Europa, told Al Jazeera that Denmark’s summoning of a US diplomat was a “very rare” event.

“Summoning the US charge d’affaires for a formal protest is something Denmark only does in exceptional circumstances, and it signals just how seriously Copenhagen views the situation. It is clearly not routine diplomacy but a strong signal of protest,” said Nissen.

“Denmark has only done this once before in recent years – and notably over the same issue, when it summoned the US ambassador in response to a Wall Street Journal report suggesting that US intelligence agencies had been tasked with investigating Greenland’s independence movement and resource potential.”

In May, The Wall Street Journal reported that US intelligence agencies had been instructed by several high-ranking intelligence officials under US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to collect information about Greenland’s independence movement and local views on the US gaining access to Greenland’s natural resources.

The WSJ, which quoted two unnamed sources familiar with the issue, reported that the intelligence agencies had been tasked specifically with identifying Greenlanders and people from Denmark who supported US objectives for Greenland.

In May, when this report was published, Fredriksen told The Associated Press that the report was “rumours”, adding: “You cannot spy against an ally.”

After that report was published, Gabbard’s office released a statement, saying: “The Wall Street Journal should be ashamed of aiding deep state actors who seek to undermine the President by politicising and leaking classified information … Those who leak classified information will be found and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

How has the US responded?

The US State Department released a statement confirming that the charge d’affaires and deputy chief of the US mission in Copenhagen, Mark Stroh, had met with officials from the Danish Foreign Ministry.

Stroh had “a productive conversation and reaffirmed the strong ties among the Government of Greenland, the United States, and Denmark”, the statement said. It added that the US respects “the right of the people of Greenland to determine their own future”.

However, the US State Department did not comment on the claims about the actions of US citizens. “The US government does not control or direct the actions of private citizens,” it stated.

What has Trump said about Greenland?

Greenland is home to about 56,000 people, most of whom are from the Indigenous Inuit community.

Since Trump’s first term, the US president has expressed an interest in Greenland’s accession to the US. Back then, Trump cancelled a trip to Copenhagen after Denmark refused to sell Greenland to the US.

During his second term as president, Trump has stepped up his interest in Greenland. In late December 2024, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that “the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity”.

In response to this, Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede said in a written statement: “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.”

In January, ahead of his son Donald Trump Jr’s trip to Greenland, Trump again wrote on Truth Social: “Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation.”

After this, Frederiksen said: “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.” Rasmussen emphasised that Greenland did not want to become a part of the US.

Trump once again raised his ambitions to acquire Greenland in March, ahead of US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to the island. “We need Greenland. And the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that the US will go “as far as we have to go” to make it happen.

“I have to say that it is unacceptable pressure being placed on Greenland and Denmark in this situation. And it is pressure that we will resist,” Frederiksen told Danish media at the time.

While Vance was initially slated to visit multiple towns, he cut his itinerary short to one day after news of his visit was met with anger in Europe. He ended up visiting the US Pituffik military base, which Greenland hosts.

During his trip, Vance took aim at Denmark, saying: “You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have underinvested in the people of Greenland and you have underinvested in the security of this incredible, beautiful landmass.”

What is so important about Greenland?

Greenland is rich in minerals, including rare earth minerals essential for manufacturing batteries and high-tech products. A 2023 survey found that Greenland contains 25 out of 34 minerals designated as “critical raw materials” by the European Commission.

However, Greenland does not extract oil and gas since mining is opposed by the Indigenous communities there. The island’s economy relies primarily on its fishing industry.

The island is also strategically important to the US because it sits on the shortest route from North America to Europe, potentially providing the US with a strategic advantage in military operations and its ballistic missile early-warning system.

How have Denmark and Europe responded to Trump’s ambitions to acquire Greenland?

Officials from Denmark and Greenland have rebuked Trump and repeatedly stated that Greenland is “not for sale”.

In December, Denmark announced it would boost defence spending in Greenland by $1.5bn after Trump expressed his desire to take over the autonomous island.

European leaders have expressed solidarity with Denmark.

In January, after Trump refused to rule out military force to take Greenland, European leaders warned Trump against threatening “sovereign borders”.

“Borders must not be moved by force. This principle applies to every country, whether in the East or the West,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote in an X post. France’s foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that Greenland was “European territory” and there was “no question of the EU letting other nations in the world, whoever they may be … attack its sovereign borders”.

Although Greenland is not a member of the European Union, it is included on the EU’s list of Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).

In June, French President Emmanuel Macron visited Greenland in a show of solidarity.

“It’s important to show that Denmark and Europe are committed to this territory, which has very high strategic stakes and whose territorial integrity must be respected,” Macron said during his visit.

Prior to his visit, Macron said during a United Nations Ocean Conference that Greenland and the deep seas were not “up for grabs”.

Are there other points of tension between the US and Denmark?

Tension between the US and Denmark emerged recently after the Trump administration stopped work on a nearly complete wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island in the US by Orsted, one of Denmark’s largest companies.

The Revolution Wind project was about 80 percent complete when it received the stop order on August 23. The stop order cited a need to “address concerns related to the protection of national security interests” without providing further details. On Monday, Orsted shares plunged 17 percent, hitting an all-time low.

In January, research by polling agency YouGov, shared with British newspaper The Guardian, showed that 46 percent of people surveyed in Denmark saw the US as either a “fairly big threat” or a “very big threat” to Denmark.

The US and Denmark are both founding members of NATO, and Denmark fought alongside the US in its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

How does Greenland feel about the US and Denmark?

Greenland was ruled by Denmark from the early 1700s until 1979, when it became a self-governing territory. Since 2009, Greenland has had the legal right to declare independence if its people choose to do so through a referendum.

All three major parties in Greenland support independence for the island, but have different ideas about the timeline for this and want Greenlanders to decide for themselves. Prime Minister Egede’s Inuit Ataqatigiit party supports independence but does not want to rush the process.

According to a poll conducted in January by pollster Verian, commissioned by the Danish newspaper Berlingske, 56 percent of Greenlanders would vote for independence if a referendum was held. Seventeen percent of Greenlanders responded saying they “don’t know” whether or not they would vote for Greenland to become an independent state.

Yet there is scant evidence that even those who want independence from Denmark want to join the US.

Meanwhile, tensions with Denmark exist, too.

The Danish government forcefully separated Inuit children from their families in 1951 and forced contraception upon 4,500 Inuit women – at least half of fertile Inuit females – during the 1960s and 1970s.

On Wednesday, Fredriksen apologised to the Inuit women who were forced to wear an intrauterine device (IUD) without their consent.

“We cannot change what has happened. But we can take responsibility. Therefore, on behalf of Denmark, I would like to say: I am sorry,” she said in a statement.

NUUK, Greenland — A party that favors a gradual path to Greenland’s independence from Denmark won a surprise victory in parliamentary elections, held in the shadow of U.S. President Trump’s stated goal of taking control of the island.

The center-right Demokraatit Party has pushed back against Trump’s rhetoric, saying it is for Greenlanders to decide the future of the strategically important territory, which holds large reserves of the rare earth minerals needed to make everything from mobile phones to renewable energy technology. The Arctic island is also home to a U.S. air base and straddles strategic air and sea routes in the North Atlantic.

The result should send a clear message to Trump that Greenland is not for sale, Demokraatit leader Jens-Friederik Nielsen told Sky News.

“We don’t want to be Americans. No, we don’t want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders. And we want our own independence in the future. And we want to build our own country by ourselves, not with his hope,” he said.

Trump has been outspoken about his desire to control Greenland, telling a joint session of Congress last week that he thought the U.S. was going to get it “one way or the other.”

Moving toward independence from Denmark

A break from Denmark wasn’t on the ballot, but it was on everyone’s mind. Greenland was colonized 300 years ago by Denmark, which still exercises control over foreign and defense policy.

The island of 56,000 people, most from Indigenous Inuit backgrounds, has been on a path toward independence since at least 2009, and the 31 lawmakers elected will shape the island’s future as it debates whether the time has come to declare independence.

Four of the five main parties in the race sought independence, but disagreed on when and how.

Second-place finisher Naleraq is the most aggressively pro-independence, while Demokraatit favors a more moderate pace of change.

“What approach to independence will win the day will ultimately depend on if Demokraatit decides to form a coalition government, and if so, with which party,” said Dwayne Menezes, managing director of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative.

A surprising victory

Demokraatit won nearly 30% of the vote, compared to just 9% in the election four years ago, Greenlandic Broadcasting Corporation KNR TV reported, while Naleraq came in second with almost 25%, up from nearly 12% in 2021.

Demokraatit’s upset victory over parties that have governed the territory for years indicated many in Greenland care just as much about social policies such as healthcare and education as they do about geopolitics.

Nielsen, 33, appeared to be surprised by his party’s gains, with photos showing him sporting a huge grin and applauding at the election party.

He said that Greenland needs to stand together “in a time of great interest from outside,” KNR TV reported.

Danish broadcaster DR reported that Nielsen said his party would reach out to all other parties to negotiate the future political course for Greenland.

Denmark’s reaction

Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen congratulated the Demokraatit party and said the future Greenlandic government would likely have to “deal with massive pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump,” according to DR.

He added that “it’s not the case that you can just take part of the Danish Realm — the future of Greenland is based on what the Greenlandic people and government want,” DR reported.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, meanwhile, called the election “a joyful day and a celebration of democracy” in a statement Wednesday. She congratulated Demokraatit and said the Danish government would await the results of coalition negotiations.

Uniting the country

Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede had called the vote in February, saying the country needed to be united during a “serious time” unlike anything Greenland has ever experienced.

On Wednesday, after the results were known, Egede thanked voters in a Facebook post for turning out and said the parties were ready to turn to negotiations to form a government.

His party, Inuit Ataqatigiit, or United Inuit, received 21% of the vote. This is a significant decline from the last election, when the party came in strongest with 36% of the vote, according to KNR TV.

Inuit Ataqatigiit had been widely expected to win, followed by Siumut — two parties that had dominated Greenland’s politics in recent years.

Siumut came in fourth with 14% of the vote.

Kirka writes for the Associated Press.

Greenlanders are heading to the polls today to vote in a snap general election amid geopolitical tensions stirred by President Donald Trump’s claims to make Greenland – currently a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark – a part of the United States.

Last month, Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede called for an early election in a social media post, stating, “We are in a serious time. A time we have never experienced in our country. The time is not for internal division but for cooperation and unity for our country. I am once again more than ready to work for you and to lead our country.”

Since Trump’s return to office, he has reignited discussions about taking control of Greenland, something he first spoke about in 2019, given its strategic location and resource-rich land.

Where is Greenland and who lives there?

Located mostly within the Arctic Circle, Greenland is the world’s largest island and is geographically part of North America.

About 80 percent of Greenland is covered by glaciers, so most of its population lives along the coastline. The capital, Nuuk, is the most populated area, home to about one-third of Greenland’s 56,000 residents.

Some 95 percent of the population is Protestant, while the remaining 5 percent is either secular or belongs to religious minorities, including traditional Inuit spiritual groups.

At about 2500 BCE, the first Inuit people settled in Greenland.

In the 10th century, Norse explorers arrived in Greenland and established settlements. By 1814, Denmark had officially made Greenland a colony.

Though a Danish territory, Greenland became self-governing in 1979 after more than two centuries under Danish control. It is one of Denmark’s two autonomous territories, with the Faroe Islands being the other.

In 1941, during World War II, the US and Denmark agreed to allow American forces to defend Greenland. Its strategic location was vital for countering German submarines and securing shipping routes. The US maintained a military presence throughout the Cold War, using Greenland for early-warning radar and monitoring Soviet activity.

In 2009, Greenland gained self-rule over most of its internal affairs, including control over natural resources and governance. However, Denmark still handles foreign policy, defence and funding.

A history of US takeover requests

The takeover of Greenland has been proposed numerous times throughout history.

• 1867 – The then-US secretary of state explored purchasing Greenland and Iceland from Denmark, but Denmark showed no interest in selling.
• 1910 – A three-way land swap which would involve the US acquiring Greenland in exchange for giving Denmark parts of the US-held Philippines, and the return of Northern Schleswig from Germany back to Denmark was proposed.
• 1946 – The US secretly offered Denmark $100m in gold for Greenland. It was considered a “military necessity” under President Harry Truman.
• 1955 – US joint chiefs of staff recommended trying to buy Greenland to ensure military access, but no official offer was made.
• 2019 – Trump first floated the idea of the US purchasing Greenland from Denmark, however, it was rejected by Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. This led to Trump’s cancellation of a state visit to Copenhagen.
• 2025 – President Trump said that owning Greenland was a “necessity” for US security. In February, Republican Congressman Earl “Buddy” Carter introduced a bill to the House of Representatives that would authorise the president to enter into negotiations with the government of Denmark to purchase or otherwise acquire Greenland.

Why is there a US military base in Greenland?

Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base, is located in the northwestern corner of Greenland. It is the Department of Defense’s northernmost installation, and is operated by the 821st Space Base Group and part of Space Base Delta 1.

The base supports missile warning, missile defence and space surveillance missions and satellite command and control. It is strategically positioned to counter Russian activities in the Arctic.

About 650 personnel are stationed at the base, including US Air Force and Space Force members, as well as Canadian, Danish and Greenlandic civilian contractors.

Under a 1951 agreement with Denmark, the US is permitted to establish and maintain military facilities in Greenland as part of mutual defence within the NATO framework.

Denmark also has a military presence in Greenland under the Joint Arctic Command, which is headquartered in Nuuk, where its main tasks are surveillance and search and rescue operations, and the “assertion of sovereignty and military defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands”, according to Danish Defence.

What are Greenland’s resources?

Greenland is rich in natural resources, including zinc, lead, gold, iron ore, rare earth elements (REEs), copper and oil.

It is home to some of the world’s largest deposits of rare earths used in high-tech industries. These resources have attracted significant attention, including from Trump, who recently attempted to negotiate with Ukraine to access its minerals.

Gold pockets exist in areas like Nanortalik and south Greenland. It also has deposits of diamonds in the Maniitsoq region.

Copper deposits are largely unexplored in Greenland, according to the Mineral Resources Authority, with areas in the northeast and central east largely untapped. Iron ore deposits are dotted around West Greenland, while nickel traces have been found around the island’s southwest coast.

Graphite, used mostly in EV batteries and steelmaking, is also reported to exist in Greenland, with exploration around Amitsoq. While zinc has been found in the north of Greenland, titanium and vanadium deposits are located in the southwest, east and south of the territory. Tungsten is also found in central east and northeast Greenland with assessed deposits in the south and west.

How big is Greenland in reality?

On some map projections, which enlarge landmasses near the poles, Greenland appears much bigger than it really is.

In reality, the Arctic island covers 2.17 million square kilometres (836,330 square miles), making it roughly three times the size of the US state of Texas, or about the same size as Saudi Arabia, Mexico or the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Copenhagen, Denmark – To Donald Trump, the United States president who presents himself as an adept dealmaker, Greenland appears to be an irresistible opportunity.

He has long said he wants to buy the vast, semi-autonomous icy island that is part of Denmark, rich in untapped mineral resources and home to about 56,000 people.

In 2019, during his first term as president, Trump suggested that the US should buy Greenland, framing it as a real estate deal.

In 2025, president once again, Trump has said he is concerned about national and economic security, believing that that China and Russia pose a threat. Both nations have stepped up their military activities in the Arctic.

Trump has also questioned whether Denmark has rights to Greenland, and stated that if this is the case, Copenhagen should give it up to the US.

“I think Greenland we’ll get because it has to do with freedom of the world,” he told reporters on board Air Force One last month.

He has refused to rule out a military attack if his demands are not met, a threat that has opened a new chapter of tensions with Europe.

In 2019, the proposal was rejected.

Kim Kielsen, then-chairman of the Naalakkersuisut, Greenland’s government, said the territory was not up for sale.

The Greenlandic and Danish governments now find themselves again underlining the same message.

The current chairman of Greenland’s government, Mute B Egede, has underscored aspirations of independence and confirmed an interest in cooperation with other powers – including Denmark, the European Union and the US.

Al Jazeera interviewed Birger Poppel, a social scientist and emeritus professor at the Ilisimatusarfik – the University of Greenland, about the rising tensions, Donald Trump Jr’s recent visit to Greenland, the latest opinion polls in the territory, the relationship with Denmark and the growing climate challenges in the Arctic due to increased shipping traffic.

Al Jazeera: Donald Trump Jr. visited Greenland in Donald Trump’s private jet to sell an idea – that being bought by the US would improve Greenland’s fortunes. According to local reports, some Greenlanders were coerced into saying on film that they lack everything and love the US. Do Greenlanders love the US?

Birger Poppel: Selling the idea very accurately summarises the purpose of Trump Jr’s half-day visit to Nuuk.

Trump’s vanguard arrived the day before, where they handed out MAGA hats to people they met, who then agreed to be in Nuuk airport when Junior and his PR team arrived.

Upon arrival, Junior was greeted by a local Trump supporter who had participated in Trump’s election campaign as an activist, together with a few handfuls of locals wearing MAGA hats and a group of curious Nuuk citizens.

One of the events was a lunch at a local luxury restaurant, where locals – and primarily socially disadvantaged and resource-poor people – got a free meal.

Junior’s visit was a major PR stunt. He claimed he was on a tourist visit, but he and the group came with primarily political messages – based on fake news and manipulated information. This also applies to his statement about Greenlanders’ views on the United States.

Four out of the five parties in [Greenland’s Parliament] Inatsisartut – including both government parties – have Greenlandic independence as part of their political programmes. The majority of the Greenlandic population wants independence within 10-20 years, and on the condition that the standard of living can be maintained.

A recently published opinion poll shows that 85 percent of Greenlanders do not want Greenland to leave the Danish Realm and instead become part of the United States.

If the Greenlandic population were given the choice between being Danish or American citizens, 55 percent would choose Danish citizenship, while 8 percent would choose American citizenship.

Al Jazeera: How should Trump’s view that Greenland is linked to US national and economic security be assessed? Do China and Russia pose threats?

Poppel: If one takes Trump’s words at face value, the threat could hardly be stronger. It should also be noted that Trump has made a threat against one of the US’s most loyal NATO partners.

This is just one example of Trump’s failure to accept or respect a rules-based international social order where national borders are recognised. Thus, Trump’s statement also contributes to legitimising, for example, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war against Ukraine.

The US has opportunities to achieve its geostrategic goals in Greenland with a base in north Greenland and a defence agreement with Denmark.

If “economic security” means access to raw material extraction of, for example, rare earth elements (REE), the Greenlandic self-government has invited the US and American companies to apply for exploration and development licences in Greenland.

Only one American company has a licence.

So, there may be reasons for Trump’s statements – either it’s because of insufficient insight into the actual conditions, or the desire to own Greenland is to appeal to core voters to point out that “Make America Great Again” must also be understood territorially, as is the case with the Panama Canal.

Al Jazeera: The Arctic was usually seen as frozen and remote not only geographically, but also politically. What’s changing?

Poppel: Global warming means, among other things, that the ice cover in the Arctic Ocean is decreasing in both extent and thickness. This has meant an increase of shipping traffic, not least through the Northeast Passage.

Increased shipping traffic will also mean increased traffic from China and Russia, with Trump apparently fearing that part of this traffic will consist of naval vessels from Russia and China.

In recent decades, Russia has – in line with the increased accessibility of the Russian Arctic coast – modernised and upgraded the military facilities along the coast and has also modernised the Russian navy with icebreakers.

In an interview, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified the US’s increased security needs in the Arctic, since China may want port facilities in Greenland. Rubio saw this as an argument for Trump’s desire for the US to possess Greenland.

The five Arctic nations – Canada, Greenland/Denmark, Norway, and Russia, the United States – that border the Arctic Ocean, in the so-called Ilulissat Declaration from 2008, committed to resolving conflicts in the region by peaceful means. Ten years later – in 2018, the five Arctic coastal states confirmed the Ilulissat Declaration, thereby maintaining the Arctic as a low-tension area.

There is no doubt that both Russia and China have a growing interest in the Arctic. Russia, whose long coastline borders half of the Arctic Ocean, has modernised Arctic military installations, and China has an interest in the oil and gas from the Russian part of the Arctic and in future use of future Arctic sea lanes with lower transportation costs.

Al Jazeera: Europe was shocked by Trump’s promise to take Greenland over by any means necessary. The Danish government has launched plans to boost security in Greenland. How do you view Denmark’s response?

Poppel: The Greenlandic government and Greenlandic members of the Danish Parliament have pointed out the need of an increased priority for monitoring the Greenlandic territory and the waters off the coast of Greenland for years.

In 2019, the Danish government decided to increase monitoring of Greenland and allocated funds for this, but in the past four years, despite Greenlandic political pressure on the Danish government, nothing has been done to improve monitoring.

The US has the option – by agreement with Greenland and Denmark – to establish more bases but has not taken advantage of the individual option.

Al Jazeera: What can you tell us about the US’s base in Greenland?

Poppel: The US established Thule Air Base in 1953 after the area’s original inhabitants, the Inughuit, were forcibly relocated by the Danish state to make room for the base.

The base, now called Pituffik Space Base, has early warning systems, the possibility of space surveillance and the command of satellites. The civilian part of the base has, at times, provided employment for both Greenlandic and Danish workers.

Al Jazeera: Are you concerned about the climate in the long term?

Poppel: Increased US production of fossil fuels will mean increased CO2 emissions and lead to rising temperatures and, thus, increased melting of all types of ice.

Trump dreams of being able to export more oil and gas, and the increased shipping traffic will further contribute to the climate impact.

Marco Rubio’s statements that the transportation of fossil fuels to a large extent should take place from the north and along the west coast of Greenland will also mean the risk of environmental disasters in the vulnerable Arctic marine environment and will, in any case, affect wildlife – not least marine mammals, which are very sensitive to noise.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark —  Greenland’s prime minister said Friday that the mineral-rich Arctic territory’s people don’t want to be Americans, but that he understands U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s interest in the island given its strategic location and he’s open to greater cooperation with Washington.

The comments from the Greenlandic leader, Múte B. Egede, came after Trump said earlier this month that he wouldn’t rule out using force or economic pressure in order to make Greenland — a semiautonomous territory of Denmark — a part of the United States. Trump said that it was a matter of national security for the U.S.

Egede acknowledged that Greenland is part of the North American continent, and “a place that the Americans see as part of their world.” He said he hasn’t spoken to Trump, but that he’s open to discussions about what “unites us.”

Egede has been calling for independence for Greenland, casting Denmark as a colonial power that hasn’t always treated the Indigenous Inuit population well.

“Greenland is for the Greenlandic people. We do not want to be Danish, we do not want to be American. We want to be Greenlandic,” he said at a news conference alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Copenhagen.

Trump’s desire for Greenland has sparked anxiety in Denmark as well as across Europe. The United States is a strong ally of the 27-nation European Union and the leading member of the NATO alliance, and many Europeans were shocked by the suggestion that an incoming U.S. leader could even consider using force against an ally.

But Frederiksen said, “The U.S. is our closest ally, and we will do everything to continue a strong cooperation.”

She added: “The debate on Greenlandic independence and the latest announcements from the U.S. show us the large interest in Greenland; events which set in motion a lot of thoughts and feelings with many in Greenland and Denmark.”

Frederiksen and Egede spoke to journalists after a biannual assembly of Denmark and two territories of its kingdom, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The meeting had been previously scheduled and wasn’t called in response to Trump’s recent remarks.

Trump’s eldest son made a visit to Greenland on Tuesday, landing in a plane emblazoned with the word TRUMP and handing out Make America Great Again caps to locals.

The Danish public broadcaster, DR, reported Friday that Trump’s team encouraged homeless and socially disadvantaged people in Greenland to appear in a video wearing “Make American Great Again” hats after being offered a free meal in a nice restaurant. The report quoted a local resident, Tom Amtof, who recognized some of those in a video broadcast by Trump’s team.

“They are being bribed, and it is deeply distasteful,” he said.

Greenland has a population of 57,000. But it’s a vast territory possessing natural resources that include oil, gas, and rare earth elements, which are expected to become more accessible as ice melts because of climate change.

It also has a key strategic location in the Arctic, where Russia, China and others are seeking to expand their footprint.

Greenland, the world’s largest island, lies closer to the North American mainland than to Denmark. While Copenhagen is responsible for its foreign affairs and defense, the U.S. also shares responsibility for Greenland’s defense and operates an air force base there based on a 1951 treaty.