The prime minister of Denmark on Sunday called on President Trump to “stop the threats” about taking over Greenland after the U.S. president reiterated his wish to take over the Danish territory.
Since returning to White House a year ago, Mr. Trump has repeatedly claimed that making Greenland part of the United States would serve U.S. national security interests, given its strategic location in the Arctic. Greenland is also rich in key critical minerals used in high-tech sectors.
Trump’s latest comments on Greenland
In an interview with The Atlantic magazine published Sunday, Mr. Trump reiterated his wish to take over Greenland.
“We do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense,” he told the magazine.
His comments came a day after the U.S. military captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife during an overnight raid in Caracas. This raised concern in Denmark that the same could happen in Greenland, a Danish territory.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement on Sunday that it makes “absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to take over Greenland.”
“The U.S. has no right to annex any of the three nations in the Danish kingdom,” she said, adding: “I would therefore strongly urge the U.S. stop the threats against a historically close ally and against another country and another people, who have very clearly said that they are not for sale.”
In December, Mr. Trump named Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry as special envoy to Greenland, drawing renewed criticism from Denmark and Greenland.
Denmark reacts after Katie Miller’s social media post
And on Saturday, the wife of one of Mr. Trump’s most influential aides fanned the criticism when she posted a social media picture of Greenland painted in the colors of the United States flag.
Katie Miller — wife of Mr. Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller — put the contentiously altered image of the Danish autonomous territory on her X feed late Saturday, hours after the U.S. military operation against Venezuela.
Her post had a single word above it: “SOON.”
In response, Denmark’s ambassador to the U.S., Jesper Moeller Soerensen, reacted on Sunday with his own post saying “we expect full respect for the territorial integrity” of Denmark, above a link to Katie Miller’s image.
“We are close allies and should continue to work together as such,” Soerensen said of Denmark’s relationship with the U.S. He added that both countries “work together to ensure security in the Arctic” and his “significantly boosted its Arctic security efforts” in 2025, an example of how it takes their “joint security seriously.”
Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen also responded on social media, calling Miller’s post “disrespectful” but adding that it “doesn’t change anything” about his country’s independence.
“Our country is not for sale and our future is not determined by social media posts,” Nielsen said in a statement translated from Greenlandic. “We are a democratic society with autonomy, free elections and strong institutions. Our position is clearly rooted in international law and in internationally recognized agreements. It stands.”
Stephen Miller is widely seen as the architect of much of Mr. Trump’s policies, guiding the president on his hardline immigration policies and domestic agenda. Katie Miller was deputy press secretary under Mr. Trump at the Department of Homeland Security during his first term.
She later worked as communications director for then-Vice President Mike Pence and also acted as his press secretary.
