Greenland’s leader says ‘we’re not for sale’ after Trump suggests US takeover

Greenland’s Prime Minister Mot Egedy said the island nation “is not for sale and will never be for sale”, after President-elect Donald Trump suggested the US should seize it.

Trump posted on social media early Monday that “for the purposes of national security and freedom around the world, the United States of America feels that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.” Greenland, a large icy island in the Arctic with a population of more than 50,000, is an autonomous region of Denmark. Greenland’s leader responded quickly.

“Greenland is ours,” Egede wrote. “We are not for sale and we will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.”

This post came just hours after Trump announced his intention Nomination of Ken Howery for the position of US Ambassador to Denmark. Howery was the US ambassador to Sweden during Trump’s first term.

This is not the first time that Trump has suggested that the United States buy the island in one way or another. In 2019, during Trump’s first term, He said He was considering purchasing Greenland for strategic reasons. Greenland’s leadership explained that the island was not for sale at that time either.

Over the weekend, Trump also appeared to suggest the United States seize the Panama Canal, which is owned and operated by the Panama Canal Authority, which is owned by the government of Panama. The United States uses the canal more than any other country, according to the US State Department, with 72% of all ships heading to and from US ports.

Panama’s President José Raúl Molino responded that “every square meter” of the canal “belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama.”

“We’ll see about that!” Trump posted After Mulion replied.

The Panama Canal was built by the United States in the early twentieth century, and returned to Panama under a treaty by former President Jimmy Carter in 1977.