Greenlandic party leaders strongly reject Trump’s desire to acquire the island: ‘We don’t want to be Americans’

Greenland’s party leaders have rejected President Trump’s repeated proposals. calls on the United States to take control of the islandstating that the future of Greenland must be decided by its people.

“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and four party leaders said in a statement Friday evening.

Mr. Trump reiterated Friday that he wants to make a deal to acquire Greenland, a semi-autonomous region that is part of the Denmark, NATO ally“the simplest way”. He said that if the United States does not own it, then Russia or China will take control, and the United States does not want them as neighbors. NATO allies and Greenland disagree with Mr. Trump’s assessment.

“If we don’t do it the easy way, we’ll do it the hard way,” Mr. Trump said, without explaining what that entailed. The White House has said it is considering various options, including the use of military force, to acquire the island. US Senator Rand Paul told CBS Mornings earlier this week he said he would “do everything to stop any form of military takeover of Greenland.”

Greenland’s party leaders reiterated that “the future of Greenland must be decided by the Greenlandic people.”

“As Greenlandic party leaders, we wish to once again emphasize our desire for the United States’ contempt for our country to end,” the statement said.

Officials from Denmark, Greenland and the United States met in Washington on Thursday and will meet again next week to discuss the issue. new momentum from the White House for control of the island.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that a US takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO.

The party leaders’ statement said that “work on the future of Greenland takes place in dialogue with the Greenlandic people and is prepared on the basis of international laws.”

“No other country can interfere in this matter,” they said. “We must decide the future of our country ourselves, without pressure for a quick decision, delay or interference from other countries.”

The statement was signed by Nielsen, Pele Broberg, Múte B. Egede, Aleqa Hammond and Aqqalu C. Jerimiassen.

Potter Pilu Chemnitz told CBS News partner BBC News that the Greenlanders “are all very tired of the American president” and “just want to be left alone.”

Eighty-five percent of Greenlanders say they are opposed to a US takeover, the BBC reported. Most also say they favor independence from Denmark, even though the Nordic country provides subsidies, military support and more to the autonomous territory.

Although Greenland is the largest island in the world, it has a population of around 57,000 and does not have its own army. Defense is provided by Denmark, whose army is dwarfed by that of the United States.

It is unclear how other NATO members would react if the United States decided to take control of the island by force or if it came to Denmark’s aid. Denmark’s former ambassador to NATO, Michael Zilmer-Johns, called Mr. Trump’s ambitions “an affront to an ally who has stood with the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and around the world.”