Donald Trump Jr arrives in Greenland after dad says US should own territory

Donald Trump Jr has arrived in Greenland, weeks after his father mentioned he wished the US to take management of the autonomous Danish territory.

Forward of his go to, Trump Jr mentioned he was embarking on a “private day-trip” and had no conferences deliberate with authorities officers.

President-elect Donald Trump not too long ago revived an argument he ignited final month when he mentioned “possession and management of Greenland is an absolute necessity” for the US. “We’re not on the market,” the island’s prime minister responded on the time.

Requested on Tuesday whether or not he may rule out utilizing army or financial power on the matter, Trump mentioned he couldn’t.

With a inhabitants of 57,000, Greenland has wide-ranging autonomy – however its financial system is essentially depending on subsidies from Copenhagen and it stays a part of the dominion of Denmark.

Throughout his first time period as president, Donald Trump expressed an curiosity in shopping for the Arctic island. He was rebuffed then, as he has been now.

When requested about Trump Jr’s go to to Greenland, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen informed Danish TV that “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders” and that solely the native inhabitants may decide their future.

She agreed that “Greenland isn’t on the market”, however harassed Denmark wanted very shut co-operation with the US, an in depth Nato ally.

Greenland’s prime minister had been on account of meet King Frederik in Copenhagen on Wednesday, however the assembly was postponed due to what Egede known as “calendar gymnastics”. Danish stories mentioned the prime minister was nonetheless on account of journey to Copenhagen on Tuesday.

The Danish authorities’s response to Trump Jr’s go to has annoyed a number of opposition politicians in Copenhagen.

Conservative MP Rasmus Jarlov posted on social media in English that “this degree of disrespect from the approaching US president in the direction of very, very loyal allies and associates is record-setting”.

Following his son’s arrival in Nuuk, President-elect Trump mentioned on his Fact Social platform that “the reception has been nice”. One other publish included a choice of photos exhibiting Trump Jr standing beside folks sporting purple Make America Nice Once more hats.

Trump mentioned Greenland “and the Free World, want security, safety, energy, and peace!”

“Make Greenland nice once more!” he added.

Earlier than leaving on board his father’s non-public jet, nicknamed Trump Drive One, 47-year-old Trump Jr mentioned on his podcast Triggered: “No, I’m not shopping for Greenland” – though he mentioned he did like it there.

The president-elect’s eldest son performed a key function in the course of the 2024 US election marketing campaign, ceaselessly showing at rallies and within the media.

One other of his father’s social media posts included a video that includes an unnamed Greenlander telling Trump to purchase Greenland and free it from “being colonised” by Denmark.

The id of the person within the clip was unclear, nonetheless Danish media reported that he had a jail conviction six years in the past for medication offences.

Greenland lies on the shortest route from North America to Europe, making it strategically vital for the US. It’s also dwelling to a big American house facility.

Hours after President-elect Trump repeated his curiosity in shopping for Greenland final month, the Danish authorities introduced a big increase in defence spending for the island. Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen described the announcement’s timing as an “irony of destiny”.

On Monday, King Frederik X modified the royal coat of arms to extra prominently function representations of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Some have seen this as a rebuke to Trump, but it surely may additionally show controversial with Greenland’s separatist motion.

King Frederik used his New Yr’s deal with to say the Kingdom of Denmark was united “all the best way to Greenland”, including “we belong collectively”.

However Greenland’s prime minister used his personal New Yr’s speech to say that the island should break away from “the shackles of colonialism”.

Trump isn’t the primary US president to counsel shopping for Greenland. The thought was first mooted by the nation’s seventeenth president, Andrew Johnson, in the course of the 1860s.

Individually in current weeks, Trump has threatened to reassert management over the Panama Canal, one of many world’s most vital waterways. He has accused Panama of charging extreme charges for entry to it.

Panama’s president responded by saying “each sq. metre” of the canal and surrounding space belonged to his nation.