Greenland, Denmark Agree to Strengthen Alliance as Trump Offers to Buy Territory
Greenland and Denmark said on April 27 that they will move to solidify their alliance as President Donald Trump continues to express interest in buying the Arctic island.
The display of unity followed discussions in Copenhagen between Greenland’s new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Nielsen arrived in the Danish capital on Saturday for what is slated to be a three-day visit.
“We are in a foreign policy situation, which means we have to move closer together,” Nielsen said at a joint press conference with Frederiksen.
Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic Ocean to the northeast of Canada, offers strategic, political, and economic advantages, particularly as the United States looks toward the Northwest Passage for shipping routes amid delays at the Panama Canal.
Nielsen’s visit to Denmark comes as Trump has reiterated his wish for Greenland to become a U.S. territory, with talks of potentially purchasing it from Copenhagen.
Leaders from Denmark and Greenland have responded by saying that only Greenlanders should decide the island’s future. They have tried to maintain a good relationship with the United States while also pushing back on Trump’s proposals to annex the territory.
“We are ready for a strong partnership [with the United States] and more development, but we want respect. … We will never be a piece of property that can be bought by anyone,” Nielsen said.
The United States’ ongoing expansion of its consulate in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, which was agreed to before Trump’s inauguration, is making some Greenlanders anxious, he added.
When asked, Nielsen did not say if he had been in contact with the Trump administration since he took office earlier this month.
Relations between Greenland and Denmark appear to be improving after the island’s previous prime minister, Mute Egede, blamed Denmark in December 2024 for a historical “genocide” in the territory. In January, he advocated for Greenland to become independent from Denmark.
“It is about time that we ourselves take a step and shape our future, also with regard to who we will cooperate closely with, and who our trading partners will be,” Egede said.
A movement for Greenland’s independence has gained traction in the island in recent years, in part after misconduct by Danish authorities in the 20th century—including an involuntary birth control campaign they began in the 1960s—was revealed.
“The history and current conditions have shown that our cooperation with the Kingdom of Denmark has not succeeded in creating full equality,” Egede said.
Egede had also previously rejected Trump’s attempts to buy the island, which date back to 2019, saying, “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale.”
On Sunday, Frederiksen said Denmark was ready to pool more resources into Greenland to support the island financially as it assumes more responsibility for its domestic affairs from Copenhagen, all part of a process she described as a “modernization” of their relationship.
As Denmark has sought further Arctic defense collaboration from the United States, both Nielsen and Frederiksen said on Sunday that they vowed to bolster defense in the critical region.
