On December 23, 2024, U.S. President-elect Trump expressed his interest in buying Greenland once again on Sunday night, December 22, through social media. In the same statement, he announced the nomination of Ken Howery as the Ambassador to Denmark.
Howery, a technology investor who previously served as the Ambassador to Sweden in the Trump administration, reacted on X, saying he will work towards “deepening” the connections between the United States, Denmark, and Greenland.
In a post on his platform “Truth Social,” Trump stated, “For national security and global freedom, the United States believes that owning and controlling Greenland is absolutely necessary.”
As the world’s largest island under Danish control, Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory crucial for U.S. defense. It houses a U.S. airbase and a radar station. Given its strategic position between the Arctic and the North Atlantic, its military significance to the United States and NATO is evident, especially amid the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
Responding to Trump’s post, the Prime Minister of Greenland, Mute Bourup Egede, via email, stated that the island is “not for sale, will never be for sale.” However, he emphasized that Greenland must continue to maintain an open attitude towards direct cooperation and trade with other countries, especially neighboring nations.
According to Bloomberg, Greenland’s authorities issued a foreign, security, and defense policy blueprint earlier this year, outlining aspirations to establish closer ties with North America through key mineral trades and to have a greater say in the historically Danish-led defense relationships.
In late 2019, Trump expressed interest in purchasing strategically significant Greenland, triggering an angry response from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
“Denmark essentially owns Greenland. We have a very good alliance with Denmark. We protect Denmark, just as we protect most regions around the world,” Trump stated at the time. “From a strategic standpoint, it’s interesting, we’d be interested, but it’s not the number one priority right now.”
Frederiksen dismissed the idea as “absurd” and told reporters at the time, “Greenland is not Danish, Greenland is Greenland. I hope this is not meant seriously.”
As Greenland garners attention once again, Trump expressed dissatisfaction last Saturday on “Truth Social” over Panama’s canal tolls, stating that upon returning to the White House, he would request Panama to return the canal’s oversight to the United States if this is not changed, and reiterated this point on Sunday.
In his post, Trump also seemed to warn against Chinese or any other infiltration of the Panama Canal. He wrote on “Truth Social” that when former President Jimmy Carter gave the canal to Panama for one dollar, “It is run completely by Panama, not China or anyone else.” He emphasized that the Panama Canal must not fall into the wrong hands.
On Sunday afternoon, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino issued an audio message in response to Trump, affirming that Panama’s independence is non-negotiable and stating that China’s control does not influence the management of the canal. He defended the tolls collected by Panama, stating that they were not set “on a whim.”