Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Donald Trump that it is up to Greenland to decide its own future.
The US president-elect caused turmoil in Copenhagen and Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, last week when he signaled that the US wanted to take over the large Arctic island, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
In a 45-minute phone call on Wednesday, Frederiksen told Trump that Denmark is ready to increase its responsibility for security in the Arctic.
She also repeated the statements of Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede who recently said that Greenland is not for sale.
Trump did not publicly respond to the call. However, he reposted on his TruthSocial account a 2019 poll that showed 68% of Greenlanders support independence from Denmark.
An independence referendum is thought to be on the horizon and Denmark has said it will respect any result.
When he was last president, Trump said he wanted to buy Greenland. When Frederiksen called the proposal “absurd”, he suddenly canceled his trip to Denmark.
The Danish government said Frederiksen also stressed in the phone call with Trump that “Danish companies contribute to growth and jobs in the US and that the EU and the US have a common interest in strengthening trade.”
Last week, Trump threatened Denmark with high tariffs if the country did not give up Greenland.
The proposal set off alarm bells among Danish industry leaders, as the US is Denmark’s second largest export market and any targeted tariffs would have a significant impact on the Danish economy.
On Thursday, Frederiksen will hold what Danish media called a “crisis meeting” with business leaders, including the CEOs of beer giant Carlsberg and drugmaker Novo Nordisk, which makes obesity and diabetes drugs popular in the US.
It is also scheduled to host an extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Policy Council with members from across parliament.
A member of the Greenlandic parliament, Aaja Chemnitz, said she was satisfied with Frederiksen’s line that every decision about Greenland should be made by Greenlanders.
“I have great confidence in the prime minister’s task, and I also have great confidence in Egede. I think it is important that they have a close dialogue,” she said.
Earlier this week, Egede said his government was ready to start a dialogue with the incoming Trump administration.
But opposition MP Rasmus Jarlov said he did not approve of Frederiksen’s approach.
Writing on X, he said: “It is completely unacceptable that [Frederiksen] renounces Denmark’s right to Greenland and attributes sovereignty exclusively [Greenlander] self-government when speaking to the President of the United States.”
Trump’s comments and his son’s visit to Greenland last week caused great concern in Denmark. Faced with the possibility of angering what she has repeatedly called “Denmark’s closest ally”, Frederiksen measured her words as she emphasized Greenland’s right to self-determination.
Hans Redder, TV2’s political editor, said the fact that Trump took 45 minutes to talk to Frederiksen on the phone indicated that “this Greenland thing is really something that’s on Trump’s mind – it’s not just a passing thought.”
