Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., landed in Greenland on Tuesday on what he called a private visit. But his entourage included firebrand conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the elder Trump’s personnel director, Sergio Gor. Trump Sr. described them as his representatives.
“Don Jr. and my Reps landing in Greenland. The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote in a Tuesday post on his social media platform Truth Social.
“On one hand, I am really happy regarding the rise in American interest in Greenland,” Frederiksen said in an interview Tuesday with Danish broadcaster TV 2. “But of course it is important that it takes place in a way where it is the Greenlanders’ decision, what their future holds.”
Greenland, the world’s largest island with a population of around 60,000, was a Danish colony until it became self-ruling with its own parliament in 1979. It remains a territory of Denmark, with Copenhagen exercising control over its foreign and defense policy.
As global powers seek to expand their reach and footprint in the Arctic, mineral-rich Greenland — which hosts a U.S. military base — is coveted for its strategic value in security and trade.
Frederiksen, who in 2019 described Trump’s bid to purchase the island as “absurd,” said it was up to Greenlanders to decide their own future, calling the growing independence movement on the island “legitimate.”