Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen says US President Donald Trump’s Greenland ambitions are “escalating tensions.”
Troels Lund Poulsen, the Danish Defense Minister, has stated that President Trump’s repeated suggestions of annexing Greenland are inappropriate for a close ally and are, overall, “escalating tensions.”
Trump stated to reporters on Wednesday, “I think we’ll go as far as we have to go. We need Greenland, and the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark.”
He continued, “We have to have the land because it’s not possible to properly defend a large section of this Earth – not just the US – without it. So we have to have it, and I think we will have it.”
Speaking to Danish state broadcaster DR on Thursday, Poulsen criticized Trump’s recent comments as escalatory and disrespectful. He characterized Trump’s increasing aggressive language as a “hidden threat” against Denmark and its semi-autonomous territory.
Responding to Trump’s recent remarks on the island, Lund stated, “I think they are going too far – both in interfering in Greenland’s internal affairs and in showing a lack of respect for its people’s right to decide their future.”
He added, “These very powerful statements about a close ally do not suit the US president.”
Trump has repeatedly brought up the subject of Greenland over the last few months, asserting that Washington needed to gain control of the island to bolster its “national security.”
This heightened rhetoric occurs alongside a visit to the island by a high-profile US delegation including Usha Vance, wife of US Vice President JD Vance, White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. JD Vance is expected to join his wife on Friday.
The visit has drawn criticism from both Danish and Greenlandic officials. The acting head of government for the semi-autonomous territory, Mute Egede, called it a “provocation” and declined to meet with the US delegation. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has also condemned the trip, accusing the US of exerting “unacceptable pressure.”
She told DR and TV2 broadcasters, “I have to say that it is unacceptable pressure being placed on Greenland and Denmark in this situation. And it is pressure that we will resist,”
While the former Danish colony of approximately 57,000 residents has a strong pro-independence movement, a poll commissioned by the Sermitsiaq daily in late January indicated that 85% of Greenlanders were against any incorporation into the US, with only 6% in favor.