A city in Greenland by Annie Spratt /Unsplash
By AFP - Agence France Presse
January 27, 2025
Greenlanders experiencing a 'worrying time' after Trump's comments: Minister
The people of Greenland are experiencing a “worrying time” following US President Donald Trump's comments about taking control of the autonomous Danish territory, Greenland's minister of trade and justice said on Monday.
For Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenlanders are “concerned” about Donald Trump's various statements signaling his desire for the Arctic island to become part of the United States.
Trump has been talking about a possible deal for years and told reporters on Saturday that he believed the United States would “get Greenland”, which he insisted his country needs for “international security”.
“As a government, our job is not to panic and find out what the real demands are,” Nathanielsen told AFP in a telephone interview.
“If the issue is military presence, the US has been here for 80 years, we're not opposed to that. If it's about minerals, it's an open market,” he added.
Finally, “If it's about expansionism, we are a democracy, we are allies and we ask our allies to respect our institutions,” said the minister, noting that there had been some confusion about the “rhetoric”.
Greenland's Prime Minister Mute Egede insisted that “Greenland is not for sale”, but that the territory was open to doing business with the US.
The world's largest island - whose capital Nuuk is closer to New York than to Copenhagen - also has vast untapped mineral and oil resources.
The US measures have reignited the debate about the territory's independence.
Greenland is due to call elections before April 6, when the question of independence should be at the top of the agenda.
Economically, Greenland depends on subsidies from Copenhagen equivalent to a fifth of its GDP, and its fishing sector, and wants to diversify its economy.
“We can't depend on a single sector, we need a strong fishing sector, but there's also mining, tourism, and green energy,” said Nathanielsen.
“Independence is more than economic figures, it also depends on the level of social welfare we aim for,” she said.
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