Donald Trump, ever since his first term, has been dreaming about the United States finding a way to take over Greenland. The idea didn’t go anywhere in Trump’s first presidency, but as he prepares to take office again, Trump has revisited the idea, along with similar dreams for the U.S. to recapture the Panama Canal and make Canada the 51st state.
Trump said this week that he was not ruling out using force to take the Canal or Greenland, even though he got his start in Republican politics railing against the Iraq War, and spent his 2024 campaign promising to avoid getting into foreign wars.
“I can’t assure you — you’re talking about Panama and Greenland — no, I can’t assure you on either of those two,” Trump said this week at a press conference. “But I can say this: We need them for economic security.”
This week, possibly to create the impression that he takes the Greenland idea seriously, Trump sent his son, Donald Trump, Jr., to Greenland, along with conservative activist Charlie Kirk and others. Per The BBC, Junior called it a “personal day trip,” but did not take meetings with any government officials.
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Greenland is a territory of Denmark, whose government was adamant, then and now, that they’re not interested in selling Greenland to the United States, although Greenland does have an independence movement that has been eyeing a possible referendum, and the island has limited autonomy.
Donald Trump Jr.’s visit was ‘staged,’ says Greenland lawmaker – POLITICO https://t.co/BzVhjPYA7C
— toomas ilves, ex-verif (@IlvesToomas) January 9, 2025
“On one hand, I am pleased regarding the rise in American interest in Greenland,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in an interview with Danish broadcaster TV 2 this week. “But of course it is important that it takes place in a way where it is the Greenlanders’ decision, what their future holds.”
Now, there’s a report that Junior wasn’t treated so respectfully when he arrived in Greenland with a stated interest in foreign conquest.
Pipaluk Lynge, a Greenland lawmaker, expressed support in a Politico interview for independence- and called the visit by the younger Trump “staged.”
“No journalists were allowed to interview him,” Lynge, who represents Greenland’s largest party, told Politico. “It was all staged to make it seem like we—the Greenlandic people—were MAGA and love to be a part of the USA.”
“People were curious, but some took pictures giving him [the] finger at the airport … Some wrote on Facebook: yankee go home,” Lynge added in the interview.
A representative for Donald Trump Jr. dismissed the allegations, labeling them as “ridiculous.”
Featured image via screengrab
