Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede said the island nation “is not for sale and never will be,” after President-elect Donald Trump suggested the United States should take over.
Trump posted on social media Monday that “for reasons of national security and freedom around the world, the United States of America believes that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.” Greenland, a large icy Arctic island with a population of more than 50,000, is an autonomous territory of Denmark. The Greenlandic leader reacted quickly.
“Greenland is ours,” Egede wrote. “We are not for sale and never will be. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.”
This message appeared just hours after Trump announced his intention to appoint Ken Howery as US ambassador to Denmark. Howery was the U.S. ambassador to Sweden during Trump’s first term.
This is not the first time Trump has suggested the United States buy the island in some way. In 2019, during Trump’s first term, he said he considered purchasing Greenland for strategic reasons. Greenland’s leaders then made it clear that the island was not for sale either.
Over the weekend, Trump also appeared to suggest that the United States should take back the Panama Canal, which is owned and operated by the Panama Canal Authority, owned by the government of Panama. The United States uses the canal more than any other country, according to the U.S. State Department, with 72 percent of all ships going to or from U.S. ports.
Panama’s President, José Raúl Mulino, responded that “every square meter” of the canal “belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama.”
“We’ll see about that!” Trump posted after Mulion’s response.
The Panama Canal was built by the United States in the early 20th century and was returned to Panama by former President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
