Greenland's prime minister explained U.S. interest in the island

Greenland is part of the North American continent, the United States sees it as a kind of backyard, where the defense of the entire continent will be carried out. Greenlandic Prime Minister Muthe Bowrup Egede said during a press conference on Jan. 10.

"[The U.S.] sees [Greenland] as one of its parts of the world, sort of its backyard, where the defense of the whole continent will be done from their side. That's why there has always been interest, and that's why we are also going to cooperate with them in the future," he said.

According to the prime minister, the "Self-Government Act" actually gives Greenland the opportunity to become independent when it is necessary at a certain point.

"We don't want to be Danish. We don't want to be on the margins. We want to be Greenlanders, and of course Greenlanders determine their own future. Greenland is Greenland," Egede stated.

The politician added that the island's authorities "cooperated with the United States yesterday, today and will also cooperate with them tomorrow."

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Earlier in the day, US President-elect Donald Trump published a video on the social network Truth Social where Greenlanders ask him to buy the island. In the video, some of the islanders are wearing MAGA caps and answering questions. The video was made by a group of the politician's son, who had previously visited the island.

Reacting to this, Danish media said that the participants in the video are vulnerable citizens bribed with a hotel dinner. It was reported that one of the locals was an eyewitness to the Trump team's attempts to get Greenlanders to praise the president-elect on camera.

Trump said that for the US "ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity" on December 22, 2024, announcing the appointment of an ambassador to Denmark. Prior to that, the U.S. politician had expressed interest in buying Greenland from Denmark in 2019, but was turned down. In the coming year, Trump was also indicated that the island is not for sale and will not be sold, but Denmark can cooperate more with the United States.