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Greenland’s Prime Minister has vowed that the United States will never take control of the Arctic island following a visit from a high-level US delegation.
Some shit you should know before you read: If you didn’t know, President Donald Trump has reignited calls for the United States to acquire Greenland, citing national security and strategic interests. As Arctic ice melts, new trade routes are opening up, leading Trump to argue that US control of the island is essential to counter the growing militarization of the region by China and Russia. However, polls show that an overwhelming majority of Greenlanders oppose annexation, favoring continued self-governance and ties with Denmark over becoming part of the United States.
What’s going on now: Greenland’s new Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, delivered a response to President Trump’s renewed push to annex the island, saying, “The United States will not get it. We do not belong to anyone else. We decide our own future.” Nielsen, who was sworn in just days before the controversy escalated, urged his fellow Greenlanders to respond with “calm, dignity and unity,” stating that the island must stand together in the face of outside pressure.
His message came shortly after Trump claimed in an NBC interview that “We’ll get Greenland, 100 percent,” and insisted he had held “real conversations” about acquiring the territory. Trump even left the door open to the use of force, saying there’s a “good possibility we could do it without military force,” but adding, “I don’t take anything off the table.”
The rhetoric from the US has sparked anger not only in Greenland, but also in Denmark. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen pushed back against Trump and Vice President Vance’s criticisms of Denmark’s support for Greenland—accusations that Denmark, which controls the island, is “abandoning” it. In a statement, Minister Rasmussen said, “We are open to criticisms, but let me be completely honest, we do not appreciate the tone in which it’s being delivered. This is not how you speak to your close allies.”
This all comes as public sentiment in the United States appears to be against annexation. A Fox News poll in the US found that 49% of Americans oppose the idea of annexing Greenland, while only 19% support it. Our own internal polling on our instagram page found that 71% of our readers oppose annexing greenland.
