Donald Trump Jr. is expected to visit Greenland on Tuesday, after his father, US President-elect Donald Trump, again expressed interest in gaining control over the vast Arctic island.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has signaled he would pursue a foreign policy unbound by diplomatic niceties, threatening to take control of the Panama Canal and statinglast month that US control of Greenland is an “absolute necessity.”
The renewed interest in the Arctic island comes amid heightened tensions between Greenland and its former colonial ruler Denmark, prompted by revelations of misconduct by the latter and prompting calls for independence from Denmark by Greenland’s prime minister.
Donald Trump Jr.’s impending visit is a private one, the island’s permanent secretary for foreign affairs, Mininnguaq Kleist, told Reuters.
Making Greenland ‘great again’
Trump said his son and various representatives were visiting Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, to see “some of the most magnificent areas and sights.”
On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump late on Monday praised the island and promised to “MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”
“Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation,” he wrote.
With its Pituffik air base, Greenland is strategically important for the US military and its ballistic missile early-warning system, since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the island.
Greenland’s capital Nuuk is closer to New York than the Danish capital, Copenhagen.
‘Private visit’
No meetings were scheduled with representatives of the Greenlandic government for Donald Trump Jr.’s visit, which is a private one, Kleist told Reuters.
He was expected to land at around 1300 GMT and stay for about four to five hours, Kleist said, adding that the government had not been briefed on the program of the visit.
A source familiar with the trip told Reuters that Trump Jr. was planning to shoot video content for a podcast and that he would not meet with any government officials or political figures.
Greenland, which has a population of just 57,000, boasts mineral, oil and natural gas wealth. But development has been slow, leaving its economy reliant on fishing and annual subsidies from Denmark.
Its Prime Minister Mute Egede has repeatedly said the vast island is not for sale. But last week, Egede, in a New Year speech, stepped up a push for independence from Denmark, breaking it free from “the shackles of colonialism” to shape its own future, although he did not mention the United States.
“Greenland is open and those who wish to visit us are welcome,” Greenland’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement late on Monday.
Denmark’s Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on Tuesday that he shared the view that Greenland was not for sale.
“(The visit) shows that Greenland and the Arctic will be on the international political agenda in a completely different way than we are used to,” he said. “This is a natural consequence of the security situation in the Arctic.”
Trump had earlier expressed interest in buying Greenland during his 2017-2021 term but was publicly rebuffed by Greenlandic and Danish authorities before any conversations could take place.
Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament, said the idea of a US takeover should be firmly rejected.
“I don’t want to be a pawn in Trump’s hot dreams of expanding his empire to include our country,” she wrote.
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