COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump has not treated Greenlanders with respect since expressing his renewed interest in acquiring the vast, mineral-rich Arctic island, Greenland’s prime minister was quoted on Monday as saying.
Trump reiterated his interest in acquiring the island during his address to Congress last Tuesday, painting a picture of prosperity and safety for the “incredible people” of Greenland, an autonomous territory of the kingdom of Denmark.
Trump reaffirmed that message in a Truth Social post early on Monday, writing: “We will continue to keep you safe, as we have since World War II. We are ready to invest billions of dollars to create new jobs and make you rich.”
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede told Danish public broadcaster DR in an interview aired on Monday: “We deserve to be treated with respect, and I don’t think the U.S. president has done that recently since he took office.”
“I think that the recent things the American president has been doing means that people don’t want to get as close to (the U.S.) as they might have wanted in the past,” he added.
“We need to draw a line in the sand and put more effort into (cultivating relations with) the countries that show us respect for the future we want to build,” said Egede, in comments aired a day before Greenland holds a general election.
Egede has repeatedly said that Greenland, whose population is only 57,000, belongs to its people and that it should decide on its own future. He supports full independence for Greenland.
The island, whose capital Nuuk is closer to New York than the Danish capital Copenhagen, boasts mineral, oil and natural gas wealth, but development has been slow and its economy remains heavily reliant for now on fishing as well as annual subsidies from Denmark.
A recent poll indicated that 85% of Greenlanders do not wish to become a part of the United States, with nearly half seeing Trump’s interest as a threat.
(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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