'Not for sale': As Trump eyes Greenland (again), what's the status of the world's largest island?

LAST UPDATE | 19 hrs ago

FRANCE’S FOREIGN MINISTER has warned Donald Trump against threatening the “sovereign borders” of the European Union after the US president-elect refused to rule out military action to take control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of EU member Denmark.

Trump has made a number of remarks recently outlining his desire for territorial expansion, which prompted reporters to ask if he would use military force to do so. 

In addition to Greenland, Trump has indicated he wants the Panama Canal and Canada to be under US control. 

‘Law of the strongest’ 

“There is no question of the EU letting other nations in the world, whoever they may be… attack its sovereign borders,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France Inter radio.

“We are a strong continent. We need to strengthen ourselves more,” he added.

Barrot described Greenland as “European territory”.

“If you ask me: ‘Is the United States going to invade Greenland?’ the answer is no,” said Barrot.

But he added: “We have entered an era that is seeing the return of the law of the strongest.”

“Should we be intimidated? Should we be overcome with worry? Evidently, no.

“We need to wake up and reinforce ourselves, militarily, in competition, in a world where the law of the strongest prevails.”

Barrot said he believed that the United States is “inherently not imperialistic” and said he “did not believe” that it is changing.

In Berlin, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in response to Trump’s remarks that “as always, the firm principle applies… that borders must not be moved by force”.

The world’s largest island 

Greenland is associated with the European Union through its close relationship with Denmark, of which it is a self-governing territory. 

The island, with its population of 57,000 spread out across 2.2 million square kilometres, is rich in natural resources, although oil and uranium exploration are banned. 

Greenland is also strategically significant in geopolitical terms due to its location in the Arctic. Geographically, it is closer to North America than to Europe and is also home to a US military base.

The country has been autonomous since 1979 and has its own flag, language and institutions. However, Greenland’s judiciary, monetary policy, defence and foreign affairs all remain under Danish control.

The Greenland government also relies on Denmark for more than half of its budget and the subsidies it receives from Copenhagen amount to a fifth of its GDP.

‘Make Greenland great again!’ 

In a rambling news conference yesterday, Donald Trump refused to rule out military intervention over his stated ambition to take control of both the Panama Canal and Greenland.

“I am not going to commit to that (no military action). It might be that you have to do something,” Trump told reporters.

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“We need them for economic security,” he said.

His comments coincided with a private visit to Greenland by his son Donald Trump Jr, which he describes as a tourist trip. 

A day earlier, the incoming US president called Greenland “an incredible place”, promising that its people would prosper if it were ever be annexed by Washington.

“We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Then yesterday, he wrote that the island needed “safety, security, strength and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen.”

This is not the first time Trump has expressed a desire for the acquisition of Greenland. 

During his first term in the White House in 2019, he said he wanted to buy Greenland, an offer quickly rejected by Greenland and Denmark.

Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected Trump’s threat against Greenland at a news conference in Paris today, reassuring Europe that a US military intervention would not occur.

“The idea expressed about Greenland is obviously not a good one, but maybe more important, it’s obviously one that’s not going to happen,” Blinken said.

‘Not for sale’

“Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom,” Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede said. 

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish television TV2 she did not believe Trump’s pursuit would ever go that far.

“I don’t have the fantasy to imagine that it’ll ever get to that,” she said, calling for cool heads to prevail.

“As a very close ally of the United States, I think there is reason to be happy about the increasing American interest. But it will have to be done in a way that is respectful of the Greenlandic people,” she said.

Aaja Chemnitz, a politician who represents Greenland in the Danish parliament, rejected Trump’s offer with a firm “No thank you”.

“Unbelievable that some people can be so naive as to believe that our happiness lies in us becoming American citizens,” she wrote on Facebook, adding that she refused to be “a part of Trump’s wet dreams of expanding his empire to include our country”.

‘Open to dialogue’

In an apparent olive branch offering, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters that the Danish Realm – which includes Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands – is “open to a dialogue with the Americans on how we can cooperate, possibly even more closely than we already do, to ensure that American ambitions are fulfilled.”

Lokke Rasmussen noted that the United States and NATO had “legitimate” interests in the region because of international events.

“In conjunction with the melting of the Arctic and new shipping lanes opening up, we are unfortunately also seeing an increase in great power rivalry. We see a Russia that is arming itself. We see a China that is also starting to take an interest,” the Danish foreign minister said.

The top diplomat urged calm amid the new frenzy.

“I try to deal with the realities, and I think we should all do ourselves a favour by getting our heart rate down a bit,” he said.

With reporting from AFP

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