Donald Trump calls off meeting with Danish prime minister over her refusal to sell Greenland to the United States
- It was first reported last week that the US president had expressed an interest in the self-governing part of Denmark
- But Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen rebuffed his advances, labelling any discussion of a sale as ‘absurd’
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The announcement confirms just how interested he was in purchasing Greenland, an idea that had initially been dismissed as a joke by some, but which the White House later insisted had a serious purpose because of the territory’s strategic location.
“Based on Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday.
“The prime minister was able to save a great deal of expense and effort for both the United States and Denmark by being so direct. I thank her for that and look forward to rescheduling sometime in the future!”
He confirmed on Sunday that he was indeed interested in buying Greenland, but said it was not a priority for his administration.
“It’s something we talked about,” he told reporters.
“The concept came up and I said certainly, strategically it’s interesting and we’d be interested, but we’ll talk to [Denmark] a little bit,” he said, stressing that it was “not number one on the burner” for the government.
When asked if he would consider trading a US territory for Greenland, Trump replied that “a lot of things could be done.”
“Essentially, it’s a large real estate deal,” he said.
According to Reuters, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told the Danish broadcaster DR on Sunday that discussion of a sale would be “absurd”.
“Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland,” she told local newspaper Sermitsiaq while travelling with Greenlandic Prime Minister Kim Kielsen.
We’re open for business, not for sale
Trump had been scheduled to visit Copenhagen on September 2-3 to discuss Arctic issues with Frederiksen, who took office in June, and Kielsen. A defence treaty between Denmark and the US dating back to 1951 gives America military rights over the Thule Air Base in northern Greenland.
Denmark colonised Greenland in the 18th century. It is home to only about 57,000 people, most of whom belong to the indigenous Inuit community.
Greenland’s ministry of foreign affairs insisted on Friday the island was ready to talk business, but was not for sale.
“Greenland is rich in valuable resources such as minerals, the purest water and ice, fish stocks, seafood, renewable energy and is a new frontier for adventure tourism,” it tweeted.
“We’re open for business, not for sale.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
