COPENHAGEN, Denmark: Greenland on Monday stressed that it was not for sale after US president-elect Donald Trump again suggested he wanted the United States to take control of the strategic island that holds major mineral and oil reserves.
Trump offered to buy the vast Danish territory during his first term in office — receiving an abrupt refusal — and he revived his push over the weekend when naming his ambassador to Copenhagen for his incoming administration.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede quickly sought to quash any chance of a deal.
“Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom,” Mute Egede said in a statement.
Greenland, the world’s largest island, is an autonomous Danish territory with its own parliament, about 55,000 inhabitants, and a small pro-independence movement.
It relies on Denmark to fund more than half of its public budget.
Trump on Sunday posted that “for purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”
As president, he cancelled a state trip to Denmark in 2019 after the country said Greenland was not for sale.
Under President Joe Biden, the United States said it did not want a purchase but instead sought to strengthen ties.
The United States made previous offers to purchase Greenland, first in 1867 and again in 1946 under President Harry Truman. Denmark declined each time.
“Greenland is rich in valuable resources such as minerals, the purest water and ice, fish stocks, seafood, renewable energy, and is a new frontier for adventure tourism,” the Department of Foreign Affairs in Greenland told Trump in 2019. “We’re open for business, not for sale.”
The landmass, approximately a quarter the size of the United States, has a small population of about 57,000 and a $3.24 billion economy, according to 2021 estimates cited by the Central Intelligence Agency. Its economy is heavily reliant on fish, shrimp, and subsidies from Copenhagen.
