Donald Trump
Credit: Reuters Photo
President Donald Trump on Monday reiterated that United States needs Greenland for "national security".
As per a report by AFP, Trump said this after appointing Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as special envoy to Greenland. Adding that the special envoy would "lead the charge", he said US needs Greenland "for national security, not for minerals..."
"If you take a look at Greenland, you look up and down the coast, you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need it for national security. We have to have it," Trump said, as reported by Reuters.
Landry taking to his official X account thanked Trump and wrote," It’s an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the US. This in no way affects my position as Governor of Louisiana!"
His remarks however have drawn criticism from Denmark and Greenland, over their "interest in mineral rich Artic island".
Denmark's Foreign minister said it is "totally unacceptable" and would summon US ambassador in Copenhagen for an explanation.
Earlier Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen had said that "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders" and that the "US shall not take over".
"You cannot annex another country. Not even with an argument about international security," they said.
This is not the first time that Trump has spoken about Greenland. In January this year, insisting that Greenland needs to be part of the US, Trump said that it would be an "unfriendly act" on the part of Denmark if they did not let this happen.
"I think we're going to have it (Greenland). I think the people want to be with us. As you know, there's 55,000 people there. They want to be with us," Trump had said.
"You have Russian ships; you have Chinese ships. You have ships from various countries. It's not a good situation. I believe we'll get that. I believe Greenland we'll get because it really has to do with freedom of the world," he added.
Trump's comments were followed by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen insisting Greenland was not for sale in a fiery phone call with the US president.