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Topics: World News, Politics, Donald Trump, US News, Europe
Liv Bridge
Topics: World News, Politics, Donald Trump, US News, Europe
Greenland has issued a sharp response to Donald Trump after the President hinted at plans to annex the territory while making an 'embarrassing' claim about Denmark.
The POTUS is determined to see both Canada and Greenland join the US, neither of which appear particularly keen on the idea.
However, while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on Thursday (March 13), Trump raised some eyebrows when he reiterated his ambition to annex the island, which falls under the governance of the Kingdom of Denmark.
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Trump said he thinks 'it'll happen' and tipped Rutte as the man 'that could be very instrumental' in helping.
He added: "You know, Mark, we need [Greenland] for international security, not just security - international.
"That whole area is becoming very important, and for a lot of reasons.
"The routes are very direct to Asia, to Russia, and you have ships all over the place and we have to have protection, so we're gong to have to make a deal on that."
Yet while Rutte dismissed the idea, saying: "I don't want to drag NATO into that," the president went on to make an 'absurd and embarrassing' mistake over the world's largest island and its historical roots.
The semi-autonomous nation is politically governed by the Kingdom of Denmark, but Trump suggested Denmark 'really has nothing to do' with the Arctic island.
"What, a boat landed there 200 years ago or something and they say they have rights to it?
"I don't know if that's true. I don't think it is actually," he concluded.
Greenland has, in fact, been part of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1953, with social media users hitting out at the POTUS and saying Denmark does have a legitimate right to the island.
Now, Greenland's leaders have snapped back at Trump - and appear to be standing firm against any US plans to annex their homeland.
Outgoing Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede wrote on Facebook: "Enough is enough," before revealing he plans on summoning the territory's leaders from across the political spectrum in a meeting to unite against Trump.
He wrote: "The American president has once again ventured the idea of annexing us. I can't accept that.
"We need to tighten our rejection of Trump. Don't keep treating us with disrespect."
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland's likely next prime minister, also slammed the president's statement as 'inappropriate', adding: "[It] just shows once again that we must stand together in such situations."
Ahead of Greenland's election, all its candidates outlined that they did not want the island to join the US, according to NBC News.
Geographically, the territory sits closer to Canada than Europe and would be a major prize for the US due to its strategic position in the North Atlantic against rivals Russia and China.
The US already has a military base on the island and has maintained a strong defense partnership with Denmark as a NATO ally.
It is also home to some 56,000 people where growing calls have been made for full independence from Denmark.