Greenland, with its Pituffik air base, 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.
During his previous term in office, Trump in 2019 expressed interest in buying Greenland, but the proposal was promptly rejected by Denmark as well as by the island’s own authorities before any formal discussions could take place.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen as the time labelled Trump’s offer as “absurd”, leading him to term her dismissal of the idea as “nasty” and to subsequently cancel a visit to Copenhagen.
Frederiksen remains in her role of Danish prime minister.
Since 2009 Greenland has held the right to declare independence from Denmark. The island of some 56,000 inhabitants, which relies on significant budget transfers from Copenhagen each year, has so far refrained from doing so.
Separately on Sunday, Trump threatened to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal, accusing Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Central American passage and drawing a sharp rebuke from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino.
