Trump Jr. arrives in Greenland after his father reiterates interest in the island

The visit to the freezing, snow-covered Nuuk was expected to last four to five hours, with Greenlandic government saying no meetings had been scheduled with government representatives. The Danish and Greenlandic governments have both said it is a private visit.

“We have not been briefed on the nature of his programme, and therefore this is a private visit,” Mininnguaq Kleist, Greenland’s minister of independence and foreign affairs, told Reuters.

“No, I am not buying Greenland,” Trump Jr. said in his podcast, Triggered on Monday, referring to his father’s recent comments. “Funnily enough, I’m actually going on a very long personal day trip to Greenland.”

“We want to meet people,” the president-elect’s son said. “They seem like a great bunch of people.”

Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, is geographically part of the North American continent, with its capital Nuuk closer to New York than to the Danish capital, Copenhagen.

FILE – A view of a Greenland flag in the village of Igaliku in Greenland, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/ Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)

On Monday, President-elect Trump praised the island on his social media platform, Truth Social, promising 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. Trump added that his son was visiting Greenland to see “some of the most magnificent areas and sights.”

In 2019, Trump postponed a scheduled visit to Denmark after Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed his idea of the US purchasing Greenland.

Trump, who takes office on 20 January, has signalled that he will pursue a foreign policy unbound by traditional diplomatic niceties. He has threatened to take control of the Panama Canal and stated last month that US control of Greenland is an “absolute necessity.”

Denmark, a close NATO ally, has experienced worsening relations with Greenland in recent years, driven by revelations of misconduct by Denmark during its colonial rule.

Greenland’s Prime Minister, Mute Egede, has stated that the island is not for sale but, in his New Year speech, stepped up efforts to push for independence from Denmark.

Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen told broadcaster TV2 on Tuesday: “We need very close cooperation with the Americans.

“On the other hand, I would like to encourage everyone to respect that the Greenlanders are a people; it is their country, and only Greenland can determine and define its future,” she said.

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