The Prime Minister of Greenland, Múte Egede, shared last week that he was “ready” to begin talks with President-elect Donald Trump, who has recently discussed plans to annex Greenland.
Egede shared his thoughts on the speculation during a press conference in Copenhagen on Friday after he was asked if he had spoken with Trump. While he said they hadn’t yet, he added that “we are ready to talk.”
Greenland, an autonomous island within the kingdom of Denmark, has been in Trump’s sights since he won reelection in November. He has shared several thoughts about the island and acquiring it, saying it was an “absolute necessity” for the US to gain control of the world’s largest island.
During a press conference at Mar-a-Lago last week, Trump was asked if he would rule out using the military to gain control of the country, to which Trump said that he would not.
Currently, the island is home to over 56,000 people, who Egede said have no interest in being a part of the US, or Denmark for that matter.
“Greenland is for the Greenlandic people. We do not want to be Danish. We do not want to be American. We want to be Greenlandic,” Egede said Friday.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Efede met in Copenhagen on Friday, and both were present at the press conference. Frederiksen said she had asked for a meeting with the president-elect but did not specify what about.
Earlier last week, Frederiksen said that Greenland was not for sale after Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., arrived on the Arctic island. The Hill reported, citing a source close to the matter, that Trump Jr. was shooting video content for a podcast.
A report from Axios on Saturday confirmed that Denmark has been communicating with Trump’s team. The communication is said to involve the security concerns Trump allegedly has about the island.
Denmark’s government is reportedly trying to assure Trump those concerns can be addressed without the US taking control of the island.