Greenland’s Prime Minister Moute Egede says the island nation is “not for sale and will never be for sale” after President-elect Donald Trump suggested the United States should take over Greenland. Ta.
“For the purposes of national security and freedom around the world, the United States of America feels that ownership and control of Greenland is absolutely necessary,” President Trump posted on social media early Monday morning. Greenland is a large ice-covered Arctic island with more than 50,000 inhabitants and is an autonomous territory of Denmark. Greenland’s leaders reacted quickly.
“Greenland is ours,” Egede wrote. “We are not and never will be for sale. We must not lose our age-old struggle for freedom.”
The post came just hours after President Trump announced his intentions to: Name Ken Howley as U.S. Ambassador to Denmark. Hawley served as U.S. ambassador to Sweden during President Trump’s first term.
This is not the first time President Trump has proposed that the United States purchase the island in some way. In 2019, President Trump’s first term, he said He was considering purchasing Greenland for strategic reasons. Greenland’s leaders made it clear at the time that the island was not for sale.
President Trump also appeared to suggest over the weekend that the United States should take over the Panama Canal, which is owned and operated by the Panama Canal Authority, owned by the Panamanian government. The U.S. uses the canal more than any other country, with 72 percent of all ships entering and leaving U.S. ports, according to the U.S. State Department.
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino responded that “every square meter” of the canal “belongs and will always belong to Panama.”
“Let’s see about that!” Trump posted in response to Murion’s response.
The Panama Canal was built by the United States in the early 20th century and returned to Panama in a treaty by former President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
