Greenland’s prime minister firmly rejected US President Donald Trump’s recent claim that America will take control of the Arctic island, asserting that the self-governing Danish territory decides its own future.
“President Trump says that the United States ‘will get Greenland.’ Let me be clear: The United States will not get it. We do not belong to anyone else. We decide our own future,” Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday.
His comments came in response to Trump’s latest remarks in an NBC News interview, where the US president suggested that military force was not off the table in his push to annex Greenland.
“I think there’s a good possibility that we could do it without military force,” Trump said in the interview on Saturday. “This is world peace, this is international security.” However, he added, “I don’t take anything off the table.”
Greenland, an island rich in natural resources, is a strategically significant territory in the Arctic and remains part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Trump has repeatedly argued that acquiring Greenland is crucial for US national security, a position that has sparked outrage among Greenlandic and Danish leaders.
Denmark, a Nato ally of the United States, has also rejected Trump’s suggestions. Greenlandic residents and politicians have expressed strong opposition, viewing any attempt to claim the island as an attack on their sovereignty.
Trump also raised eyebrows when he was asked about how his stance on Greenland might be perceived by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has faced international condemnation for invading Ukraine and annexing parts of its territory. The US president responded bluntly, “I don’t care.”
Greenland’s leaders continue to assert their autonomy, making it clear that any discussion of the island’s future will be decided by its own people—not foreign powers.