Trump announces Greenland annexation, tensions with Denmark

US President Donald Trump has reiterated that the United States needs Greenland for national security. His comments came amid renewed diplomatic tensions with Copenhagen over the appointment of a special envoy to the autonomous Arctic island of Denmark. AFP reported from Copenhagen.

Since returning to the White House for a second term in January, Trump has consistently said that the resource-rich Greenland is essential to the United States for security reasons. He has not ruled out the possibility of using force if necessary to achieve this goal. On Sunday, he appointed Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as a special envoy for Greenland, which angered Denmark.

At a news conference in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, Trump said, "We need Greenland for national security." Not for minerals.’ He claimed that Russian and Chinese ships were increasingly present off Greenland’s coast and said, ‘We have to have it for national security.’

However, leaders in Denmark and Greenland have made it clear that Greenland is not for sale and that the island’s future will be determined by its people. A January opinion poll found that a majority of Greenlanders want independence from Denmark but are not interested in becoming part of the United States.