Trump reiterates he ‘needs’ Greenland for ‘national security’ reasons

MADRID, December 23 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, reiterated this Monday his desire to control Greenland, an autonomous territory belonging to Denmark, after announcing his intention to appoint the Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, as special envoy to the island.

“We need it for national security. We have to have it,” he said from his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, during a news conference in which he said Landry “wants to lead the initiative.”

The White House tenant stressed that the governor is “a negotiator type”, and that he could therefore help to realize his desire to take control of Greenland.

He further defended that the island’s energy or mineral reserves were not among his goals, saying the United States had “abundant” resources, but that it was a security issue. “If you look along the coast, you see Russian and Chinese ships everywhere,” he said.

The president also took advantage of his appearance to criticize the Danish authorities because, as he indicated, “they invest nothing” in Greenland. “They have a very small population (…), they say, Denmark, but Denmark has spent nothing. It has no military protection,” he stressed.

“They say Denmark was there about 300 years ago, with a ship. Well, I’m sure we were there with ships too. So we’ll have to figure it all out,” he said.

The United States’ announcement, which is part of Washington’s well-known demands to control this autonomous strategic territory belonging to Denmark, sparked a reaction from the Danish government, which demanded “respect for Danish borders” and summoned the American ambassador to the country, Ken Howery, on Monday to reverse a decision he described as “unacceptable.”

For his part, the Prime Minister of Greenland, Jens Frederik Nielsen, was calm and assured that this decision “is not a source of concern” for him. In a Facebook post, he stressed that this “does not change the fact that Greenland is the one that controls its own destiny.”