Danish politician says Greenland cannot be sold to the US

Greenland is not and will not be for sale, but Denmark can cooperate more with the United States. Aja Chemnitz, a member of the Danish Parliament for Greenland, said on January 7.

"No one should buy us because Greenland is not for sale and will not be for sale, but we can cooperate more closely with the US in business development," she said.

According to the parliamentarian from Denmark's autonomous province, the positive reaction to the visit of US President-elect Donald Trump's son lies in the state's friendly attitude towards all American tourists.

"If you look at it only from the point of view of American tourism, I think it's great, but we all know that Trump Jr.'s father would like to own and control Greenland. We don't like that. We think it's disrespectful to Greenland," commented Chemnitz.

At the same time, the politician emphasized that establishing closer contacts with the US is as important for Greenland as maintaining cooperation with Denmark.

"We would like to see closer cooperation with the US and also with Canada. It makes sense to cooperate with the US in the opposite direction, but I also think that close cooperation with Denmark is important for us when it comes to health and education," the Speaker concluded.

On this day, Donald Trump Jr, son of the US president-elect, flew to Greenland for a personal visit. Trump Jr. commented on his upcoming trip in a podcast the day before, on January 6, noting that it was planned at a time when his father was once again talking about buying the island.

Earlier, on Dec. 22, 2024, Trump, announcing the appointment of an ambassador to Denmark, stressed that for the U.S. "ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity." The American politician expressed interest in buying Greenland from Denmark back in 2019. At that time, he was turned down.

Members of the Danish Parliament on December 24 condemned Trump's return to the topic of buying the island, called his statement unacceptable and characterized these words as a "cynical policy of a superpower".

The New York Post reported the same day that the purchase of Greenland could be the largest territorial acquisition of the United States in the history of the state, surpassing the purchase of Louisiana from France, made in 1803 and almost doubling the territory of the United States.

Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on December 25 that the country had prepared a new defense package to protect Greenland, with at least $1.5 billion earmarked.

Later, on January 6, King Frederick X of Denmark changed the state's coat of arms and Greenland and the Faroe Islands became more prominent on it. The Guardian noted that this could be seen as a rebuke to Trump.