Expert on Trump: He's still frustrated that he can't get Greenland

US President Donald Trump has not forgotten Greenland. This was evident from a press conference on Monday evening, where he reiterated his desire to take over Greenland.

The press conference was otherwise about the war against Iran, but towards the end Trump began to criticize NATO for not helping the US, after which he said: “It all started with Greenland, if you want to hear the truth. We want Greenland. They won’t give it to us, and I said goodbye”.

Trump immediately left the press conference, and has not since elaborated on his message.

Declaration of bankruptcy

Subsequently, the newly elected member of the Parliament for Inuit Ataqatigiit, Naaja H. Nathanielsen, commented on the president's statements on Facebook:

– Unfortunately, we live in a time when we must again and again affirm that we are a people, a culture and a country with the right to self-determination. We are steering the course of the sled. Strong forces are copying a rhetoric that belongs to the past these years. You can see it seeping into society so that it no longer only belongs to the fringes. It must be spoken against and not silenced. Greenland is a democracy. We recognize international law. And it is not up to other countries to define our present or future. Threatening with superior force is not winning. It is a declaration of bankruptcy, wrote Naaja H. Nathanielsen.

An expression of frustration

Senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard, sees Trump's comment at the end of the press conference as an expression that he is still frustrated that Greenland and Denmark did not want to let him take over Greenland, and that several NATO countries have supported Greenland's right to self-determination.

– The comment came in continuation of Trump's expressing his dissatisfaction with NATO. So I see it as an expression that he believes that NATO has been a bad ally. NATO does not support the war in Iran, and the most serious sin was that they did not want to give Trump Greenland either. Trump is clearly still frustrated that Greenland and Denmark did not agree to him taking over Greenland, and that several NATO countries supported this.

Expansion of territory

According to Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard, it is now very clear that Trump wants Greenland to expand American territory.

– Trump is not interested in military bases or minerals. He is interested in expanding the territory of the United States, and it has not worked with the tactics he has put forward, which frustrates him.

However, Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard does not believe that one should put too much into Trump's comment at this time.

– From the Danish and Greenlandic sides, there is an interest in continuing the objective negotiation track in the working group on American access to more military bases in Greenland, which removes the focus from a takeover of Greenland.