Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede said Greenland “is not for sale and will never be sold” after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump suggested the U.S. should acquire Greenland.
“For our national security and freedom around the world, the United States feels that ownership and control of Greenland is absolutely necessary,” Trump said on social media Monday morning. Greenland, a large Arctic island of ice with over 50,000 inhabitants, is an autonomous territory of Denmark. Greenland’s leader responded quickly.
“Greenland is ours,” Egede wrote. “We are not for sale and we will not be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.”
The post came just hours after Trump announced his intentions. Ken Howery named as U.S. ambassador to Denmark. Howery was the U.S. ambassador to Sweden during Trump’s first term.
This is not the first time that President Trump has proposed the purchase of an island to the United States. During Trump’s first term in 2019 he said He was considering buying Greenland for strategic reasons. Greenland’s leadership made it clear even then that the island was not for sale.
Last weekend, President Trump appeared to suggest that the United States should take over the Panama Canal, which is owned and operated by the Panamanian government. The United States uses the canal more than any other country, with 72% of all ships traveling to and from U.S. ports using it, according to the U.S. State Department.
Panama’s President Jose Raul 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 Mullian’s response.
The Panama Canal was built by the United States in the early 20th century, and was returned to Panama through a treaty in 1977 by former President Jimmy Carter.
