Donald Trump’s threat against Greenland is ‘serious’ as former PM calls for a ‘protest’ | World | News

Donald Trump’s threat to seize Greenland “must be taken seriously”, a former prime minister of the island told Express.co.uk, warning that the United States is now the territory’s biggest security concern.

The US president-elect on Tuesday refused to rule out using military force or economic coercion to take control of Greenland after arguing that the territory is vital to US economic and security interests.

Kuupik Kleist, who was Prime Minister of Greenland between 2009 and 2013, has stressed that this is not an empty threat.

He told the Daily Express: “I think the threats that Trump expressed, when he expressed his desire to take control of Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal, need to be taken seriously.”

Kleist urged the territory’s lawmakers not to “speak softly,” urging them and others who oppose Trump’s threats to “respond in the same tone.”

He added: “NATO members should cooperate and not threaten each other.”

When asked what he would do if he were still in charge, Kleist said: “I would call on the indigenous world to protest because he is threatening the freedom movement.”

Trump’s refusal to rule out the use of military force comes after he expressed interest in purchasing the island from Denmark, the current owner of the territory.

But Copenhagen has insisted it will never sell Greenland to the United States.

Rasmus Jarlov of Denmark’s Conservative People’s Party told the Daily Express: “This cannot be achieved and there is no way for it to happen. “Denmark will not sell to people who do not want to be part of the United States.”

But he admitted that it is “difficult to handle pressure from the United States,” adding that Trump’s refusal to rule out the use of military force is deeply worrying.

Jarlov added: “Suddenly our biggest concern is threats from the United States. It is a sad and completely unnecessary fact.”

The Danish government is also taking the matter seriously: Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen has announced a massive increase in defense spending worth at least £1.2 billion.

He said the timing of the announcement was simply an “irony of fate” as it coincidentally coincided with Trump’s comments that claiming control of the island was an “absolute necessity for the United States.”

Trump first expressed interest in taking control of Greenland in 2019, when he said he was interested in purchasing the land and turning its people into American citizens.