{"id":228488,"date":"2026-01-05T12:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/228488\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T12:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:24:08","slug":"us-has-no-right-to-take-over-greenland-danish-pm-says-after-latest-trump-threats-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/228488\/","title":{"rendered":"US \u2018has no right\u2019 to take over Greenland, Danish PM says after latest Trump threats \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Denmark\u2019s<\/a> prime minister has urged Donald Trump<\/a> to stop threatening to take over Greenland after the president said the US \u201cabsolutely\u201d needs the territory.<\/p>\n

Mette Frederiksen said: \u201cIt makes absolutely no sense to talk about the US<\/a> needing to take over Greenland<\/a>. The US has no right to annex any of the three countries in the Danish kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US bombardment of Venezuela <\/a>and the capture of its president<\/a>, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>, has renewed fears of an American takeover of Greenland, as members of Mr Trump\u2019s Maga movement gleefully set their sights on the Danish territory after the attack in South America.<\/p>\n

Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday hours after Ms Frederiksen\u2019s remarks, Mr Trump doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,\u201d Mr Trump told reporters when asked about the issue.<\/p>\n

Hours after the US military operation in Venezuela, the rightwing podcaster Katie Miller \u2013 the wife of Stephen Miller, Donald Trump\u2019s powerful deputy chief of staff for policy \u2013 posted on X a map of Greenland draped in the stars and stripes with the caption: \u201cSOON.\u201d<\/p>\n

The threat to annex the mineral-rich territory, which is part of the Nato<\/a> alliance, drew outrage from Denmark and Greenland.<\/p>\n

Greenland\u2019s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, called the post \u201cdisrespectful\u201d. \u201cRelations between nations and peoples are built on mutual respect and international law \u2013 not on symbolic gestures that disregard our status and our rights,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n

But he also said: \u201cThere is neither reason for panic nor for concern. Our country is not for sale, and our future is not decided by social media posts.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Trump says US \u2018has to have\u2019 Greenland for national securityOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Copenhagen\u2019s ambassador to the US, Jesper M\u00f8ller S\u00f8rensen, reposted the social media post with a \u201cfriendly reminder\u201d of the long-standing defence ties between the two countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are close allies and should continue to work together as such. US security is also Greenland\u2019s and Denmark\u2019s security,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Kingdom of Denmark and the United States work together to ensure security in the Arctic.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Denmark had increased defence spending in 2025, committing $13.7 billion (\u20ac11.7 billion) \u201cthat can be used in the Arctic and North Atlantic. Because we take our joint security seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cAnd yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Trump recently named Jeff Landry, the governor of Louisiana, as a special envoy to Greenland<\/a>. Mr Landry, a former state attorney general, thanked Mr Trump for his appointment in December, saying it was \u201can honour to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the US\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Mr Landry welcomed Trump\u2019s toppling of Maduro by force. \u201cHaving served as a sheriff\u2019s deputy and AG, I have seen the devastating effects of illegal drugs on American families. With over 100k opioid-related deaths annually, I am grateful to see a President finally take real action in the war on drugs,\u201d he posted on X.<\/p>\n

Since taking office a year ago, Mr Trump has rattled European allies with his stated designs on Greenland, which is seen as strategically important for defence and as a future source of mineral wealth. It is home to the US\u2019s most northerly military base, at Pituffik, which Mr Trump\u2019s vice-president, JD Vance, visited in March.<\/p>\n

The US president has refused to rule out military action to gain control of the territory at a time when the US, China and Russia are jockeying for power in the Arctic, a prospect that has triggered widespread condemnation and disquiet on the island itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t rule it out. I don\u2019t say I\u2019m going to do it but I don\u2019t rule out anything. No, not there. We need Greenland very badly,\u201d Mr Trump told the US broadcaster NBC in May when asked about a potential takeover by force.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreenland is a very small amount of people, which we\u2019ll take care of, and we\u2019ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to a constant drumbeat of threats against the territory, the Danish defence intelligence service last month labelled the US a security risk in a dramatic change in transatlantic relations.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Trump appointment of US special envoy to Greenland is worrying new developmentOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland, Mette Frederiksen and Nielsen, said at the time: \u201cWe have said it very clearly before. Now we say it again. National borders and the sovereignty of states are rooted in international law … You cannot annex other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vast majority of Greenland\u2019s 57,000 inhabitants want to become independent from Denmark but have no wish to become part of the US, according to a poll in January. The territory has had the right to declare independence since 2009.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Kavanagh, the director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, a think tank that advocates restraint in US foreign policy, said she had long dismissed Mr Trump\u2019s sabre-rattling toward Greenland.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I\u2019m not so sure,\u201d she said. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be that hard for the US to put a couple hundred or a couple thousand troops inside of Greenland, and it\u2019s not clear to me who could do anything about it.\u201d \u2013 Guardian\/AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Denmark\u2019s prime minister has urged Donald Trump to stop threatening to take over Greenland after the president said…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3025,969,3024,42,43,92550,40,38,41,39,90,92549],"class_list":["post-228488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-denmark","tag-donald-trump","tag-greenland","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-nicolas-maduro","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-us","tag-venezuela"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}