President Donald Trump has said the U.S. will revisit its stance on Greenland in the coming weeks.
Asked if he expected to take action on the territory, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday: “Let’s talk about Venezuela, Russia, Ukraine. We’ll worry about Greenland in about two months. Let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days.”
He added: “We need Greenland from a national security situation. It’s so strategic.”
The Republican has long coveted the Arctic island of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory and part of Denmark—a NATO country, like the U.S. The vast, sparsely populated territory is rich in minerals and hosts the U.S. space base of Pituffik, which is key for detecting long-range missiles bound for the U.S. mainland.
Danish and Greenlandic officials have repeatedly hit back at U.S. overtures toward the territory.
Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, said on Sunday it “makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to take over Greenland.”
“The U.S. has no right to annex any of the three nations in the Danish kingdom,” Frederiksen said. “I would therefore strongly urge the United States to stop the threats against a historically close ally and against another country and another people who have very clearly said that they are not for sale.”
Trump said in his remarks to reporters the U.S. needs Greenland “from the standpoint of national security and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”
This is a developing story. Updates to follow.