Trump’s Son Visits Greenland Amid Talk of Seizure

Date: 07 January 2025 - 22:00

News ID: ۱۳۵۵۸۹

NUUK, Greenland  (AP) -- The eldest son of President-elect Donald Trump arrived in Greenland on Tuesday for a private visit that heightened speculation that the incoming U.S. administration could seek to take control of the mineral-rich Danish territory that’s home to a large U.S. military base.
The Danish state broadcaster reported that Donald Trump Jr.’s plane landed in Nuuk, capital of the vast and icy Arctic territory that has some 57,000 residents. Local media broadcast footage of him walking across a snowy tarmac.
The visit had political overtones. The president-elect recently voiced a desire — also expressed during his first presidency — to acquire the territory in the Arctic, an area of strategic importance for the U.S, China, Russia and others.
The world’s largest island, Greenland sits between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans and is 80% covered by an ice sheet.
“I am hearing that the people of Greenland are ‘MAGA.’ My son, Don Jr., and various representatives, will be traveling there to visit some of the most magnificent areas and sights,” the president-elect posted on his social media site Monday night, referring to his “Make America Great Again” movement.
“Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our nation,” Trump wrote. “We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside world. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”
Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Egede has called for independence from Denmark, saying in a New Year’s speech that it would be a way for Greenland to free itself from its colonial past. But Egede has also said he has no interest in Greenland becoming part of the United States, insisting that the island is not for sale.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday that the future of Greenland would be decided by Greenland, and called the United States Denmark’s most important ally.
During his first term, the U.S. president-elect mused about purchasing Greenland, which gained home rule from Denmark in 1979. He canceled a scheduled trip to Denmark in August 2019 after its prime minister dismissed the idea.
Reviving the issue in a statement last month as he announced his pick for U.S. ambassador to Denmark, Trump wrote: “For purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”