Denmark’s leader has called on the country’s business leaders to meet after President-elect Donald Trump said he wanted to take control of Greenland.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen scheduled the meeting for Thursday, Reuters reported.
Newsweek has reached out to the Trump-Vance transition team via email for comment.
Why does it matter?
Trump has threatened to take control of Greenland by military force or economic action, declaring Denmark’s autonomous territory an “absolute must”.
Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede has insisted it is “not for sale,” and Frederiksen called the idea “absurd” in 2019, when Trump made the suggestion during his first term.
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What you need to know
Frederiksen reportedly spoke with Trump in a 45-minute phone call Wednesday, during which she emphasized that Danish companies contribute to U.S. growth and jobs.
Drug maker Novo Nordisk, beer maker Carlsberg, toy maker LEGO, jewelry maker Pandora and wind turbine maker Vestas are all Danish companies. She also told Trump that Greenland would be the one to decide its future.
After Frederiksen’s conversation with Trump, Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called a meeting of foreign policy committee members, according to Reuters.
Denmark’s Minister for Trade and Industry Morten Bodskov said in a statement: “It is important that we have a good and constructive dialogue with the Danish business community. At a time of geopolitical tensions, we must seek dialogue and cooperation.”
What people say
Trump wrote in Social Truth in December: “For the purposes of National Security and Liberty throughout the world, the United States of America deems the possession and control of Greenland an absolute necessity.”
Egede said at a press conference on Sunday: “The reality is that we are going to work with the US yesterday, today and tomorrow. We have to be very smart in how we act. The power struggles between the superpowers are growing and now they are knocking at our door.”
Earlier, he told a news conference on Friday: “Greenland is for the Greenlandic people. We don’t want to be Danes, we don’t want to be Americans. We want to be Greenlanders.”
Christopher A. Cooper, appolitical scientist professor at Western Carolina University, said Newsweek: “Maybe Trump thinks it’s a bargaining chip. Maybe Trump likes the attention. Maybe he doesn’t think about the consequences of his rhetoric. Maybe all three. Regardless of the reasoning, the consequences of this kind of rhetoric are potentially catastrophic for the world order.” Newsweek has reached out to the Trump-Vance transition team, via email, for a response on this.
Why does Trump want Greenland?
Greenland is strategically important to the US military and its ballistic missile early warning system as the island is on the shortest route from Europe to North America.
It also comes at a time when Trump has signaled a strong “America first” approach to trade and foreign policy for his second term, pushing for rebalanced deals on US foreign financial commitments.
The US has previously investigated the purchase of Greenland. In 1867, a report from the State Department stated that the island’s location and natural resources would make it an ideal acquisition.
President Harry Truman offered to buy Greenland from Denmark in 1946 for $100 million in gold.
In the 1970s, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller also discussed buying Greenland for its mineral resources, according to Washington Post.
What happens next?
On Monday, GOP Rep. Andy Ogles introduced the Make Greenland Great Again Act, which would authorize Trump to enter into negotiations with Denmark over the purchase of Greenland.
Frederiksen’s office said that “the Prime Minister and the incoming president have agreed to continue the dialogue.”
