Donald Trump Jr. is expected to visit Greenland on Tuesday, just weeks after his father, US President-elect Donald Trump, ruffled feathers by reiterating his desire to obtain control over the autonomous Danish territory.
The ministry’s comment came after Reuters reported the island’s permanent secretary for foreign affairs Mininnguaq Kleist as saying the trip was a “private visit.” It also quoted a source familiar as saying the trip was a one-day visit to shoot video footage for a podcast.
The US president-elect last month made headlines when he resurfaced his desire to obtain the vast Arctic territory, calling it an “absolute necessity” for “purposes of national security and freedom throughout the World.”
He previously floated the idea of purchasing Greenland from Denmark in his first term as president, but the idea was shot down by the island’s government, which said at the time that it was “not for sale.”
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede responded to the US president-elect’s latest comments on Facebook, by reiterating that it is “not for sale and will never be for sale,” while the office of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen – who called Trump’s first-term suggestion that Greenland could be purchased “absurd” – echoed Egede.
“As far as statements about Greenland, the Prime Minister’s Office has no comments other than reference to what was stated by the premier of Greenland about Greenland not being for sale, but open for cooperation,” the office added.
Trump is not the first American leader to have expressed an interest in controlling Greenland, which is home to Thule Air Base, the US military’s northernmost base, located about 750 miles above the Arctic Circle and built in 1951.
Though President Harry Truman dodged questions about his pursuit of control in the region, the United States allegedly tried to buy Greenland in 1946, and in 1867, Secretary of State William Seward showed interest in purchasing the island.
According to Reuters, Greenland’s prime minister stepped up a push for independence from Denmark in his recent new year’s speech, saying it should break free from “the shackles of colonialism.”
Egede did not, however, mention the United States.
Additional reporting by Steve Contorno, Katherine Sullivan, Pamela Brown, Jim Acosta and Caroline Kelly