COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Greenland’s leader will meet the Danish king in Copenhagen on Wednesday, after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he wanted to take control of the Arctic island, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, said on Tuesday he would not rule out using military or economic action against Denmark to make Greenland part of the United States. The same day, his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., made a private visit to the resource-rich island.
Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede, who arrived in Copenhagen late on Tuesday, had announced before his trip that a meeting with Denmark’s King Frederik scheduled for Wednesday had been postponed. But on Wednesday, the Danish royal court said the meeting would take place. It gave no further details.
Greenland, with a population of 57,000, has been part of Denmark for 600 years and now controls most of its own domestic affairs as a semi-sovereign territory under the Danish realm. Its relations with Denmark have lately been strained over allegations of historic mistreatment of Greenlanders under colonial rule.
Egede has stated that the island is not for sale, while in his New Year speech he stepped up a push for independence from Denmark. Denmark also says the territory is not for sale, and that its fate can be decided only by Greenlanders.
In 2019, Trump cancelled a planned visit to Denmark after Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen rebuffed his idea of the U.S. purchasing Greenland.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Louise Rasmussen and Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Peter Graff)
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