Trump Wants Greenland; Greenland Says NO!

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March 25, 2025 15:04 IST

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Trump wants to annex the world's largest island and Greenland is angry about it.

IMAGE: A demonstration outside the US consulate under the slogan Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people, in Nuuk, Greenland, March 15, 2025. Photograph: Christian Klindt Soelbeck/Ritzau Scanpix/via Reuters

Greenland is the largest island on the map situated between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.

It was first a colony of Denmark and was later integrated with the Danish State.

The island has been a part of Denmark for nearly 300 years and lies around 3,000 km distance away.

Its capital Nuuk is closer to New York than to Copenhagen.

The sun does not set at all in Greenland for two months between May 25 to July 25.

July is the only month when temperatures rise above freezing point.

The longest day of the year June 21 is a national holiday in Greenland.

The official language in Greenlandic.

Denmark ruled Greenland as a colony until 1953, when the island achieved greater powers of self-governance. In 2009, it gained more powers pertaining to minerals, policing and courts of law, but Denmark still controls security, defence, foreign and monetary policy.

Greenland also benefits from Denmark's European Union and NATO memberships, reported CNN.

 

Why Trump covets Greenland

The US regards Greenland crucial for its security and strategic interests.

The US has a military base on the island's northwest coast. It is America's northernmost defence outpost.

The US Thule air base was built secretly in 1951. It is said to have taken the same amount of effort as building the Panama Canal.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken about taking over the semi-autonomous, mineral rich island and US Vice President J D Vance accused it of not being a good ally.

Donald Trump Jr, POTUS' eldest child, visited Greenland in January. Vance's wife Usha Vance is scheduled to visit Greenland this week.

Greenland offers the shortest route from North America to Europe. This gives the US a strategic upper hand for its military and its ballistic missile early-warning system. These waters are a gateway for Russian and Chinese vessels, which Washington aims to track, reported Al Jazeera.

IMAGE: Protesters gather outside the US consulate during a demonstration under the slogan Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people in Nuuk, Greenland, March 15, 2025. Photograph: Christian Klindt Soelbeck/Ritzau Scanpix/via Reuters

A boycott of Usha Vance's visit

A US delegation headed by Second Lady Usha Vance, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright will be in Greenland from March 27-29.

Waltz and Wright plan to visit the military base, and will join Vance in visiting historical sites and attend a dog sled race.

Greenland Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede, who turned 38 on March 11, has called the visit a provocation. The government will boycott the US delegation.

'Such interference is a breach of our democratic principles and shows a lack of respect for our self-determination,' Egede told local broadcaster KNR, adding Greenland's allies needed to be more forceful in their statements, reported Reuters.

'We have not yet seen any of our allies make a clear statement. And we need our friends among nations. That is why they must come out more clearly -- there is no other way. The vague declarations must end,' the Reuters report added.

IMAGE: Donald Trump Jr arrives in Nuuk, Greenland, January 7, 2025. Photograph: Emil Stach/Ritzau Scanpix/via Reuters

US National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the United States has a vested interest in the Arctic, and so a visit to the US Space Base to get first-hand briefings from service members on the ground should not be a surprise, reported the BBC.

In a January opinion poll, more than 80 Greenlanders rejected being a part of USA.

IMAGE: The demonstration ending outside the US consulate, under the slogan Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people, in Nuuk, Greenland, March 15, 2025. Photograph: Christian Klindt Soelbeck/Ritzau Scanpix/via Reuters

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com

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