Addressing the US Congress, President Donald Trump once again made clear his ambitions to bring Greenland under American control.

“Together, we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before,” he said, adding, “one way or another, we’re going to get it.”

But Greenland’s prime minister Mute Egede remains firm that there is no chance of annexation. “We are not for sale and can’t just be taken,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “We don’t want to be Americans… the Americans and their leader must understand that.”

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A long-brewing interest?

Trump’s ambition to control Greenland goes back to his first term as American president. Speaking to DW, Brandon Bohrn from the Bertelsmann Institute notes that Trump motivated by the island’s mineral resources and strategic position.

“Do I anticipate some sort of military operation in the near future? No, but I do anticipate more pressure on Denmark and Greenland to increase maybe a US military presence there,” Bohrn said.

Located in the Arctic Circle, Greenland sits between Canada and a northern Europe. Although an autonomous territory, it is still ruled by the Danish crown. Any American effort to acquire Greenland would therefore have to include Denmark. But Danish defense minister Trouls Lund Poulsen has made their position clear: “That won’t happen.”

Edited by: Darko Janjevic