Facing President Trump’s repeated assertions that Greenland should be brought under U.S. control, the island’s Prime Minister Mute Egede said that Mr. Trump was, “very unpredictable, in such a way that people feel insecure” as global power dynamics shift.
Egede’s interview with Denmark’s public broadcaster, DR, was published Monday, one day before voters on the vast but sparsely populated island go to the polls for an election that is under increasing scrutiny due to Mr. Trump’s rhetoric.
Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, with its own parliament, and Egede is the leader of the Ataqatigiit party, which wants independence.
“We deserve to be treated with respect, and I don’t think the American president has done that lately since he took office,” Egede said in the interview with DR.
“The recent things that the American president has done mean that you don’t want to get as close to (the U.S.) as you might have wanted in the past,” he said. “We need to draw a line in the sand and spend more effort on those countries that show us respect for the future we want to draw.”
Egede’s interview with DR took place before Mr. Trump made his latest remarks about Greenland on social media, the AFP news agency reported.
“The United States strongly supports the people of Greenland’s right to determine their own future,” Mr. Trump said in a post late Sunday. “We will continue to KEEP YOU SAFE, as we have since World War II. We are ready to INVEST BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to create new jobs and MAKE YOU RICH — And, if you so choose, we welcome you to be a part of the Greatest Nation anywhere in the World, the United States of America!”
In an address to Congress earlier this month, Mr. Trump spoke more forcefully about Greenland, where the U.S. military has its northernmost base.
The island’s location, between the U.S., Russia and Europe, makes it strategic for both economic and defense purposes, especially as melting sea ice has opened up new shipping routes through the Arctic region. Greenland also has natural gas, oil and highly sought after mineral resources.
“We need Greenland for national security and even international security. And we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it,” Mr. Trump told Congress. “But we need it really for international world security. And I think we’re going to get it — one way or the other, we’re going to get it.”
“We don’t want to be Americans, nor Danes; We are Kalaallit,” Egede said in response to Mr. Trump’s address, using the Greenlandic word for the island’s indigenous people. “The Americans and their leader must understand that. We are not for sale and cannot simply be taken. Our future will be decided by us in Greenland.”
