COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark insists that everyone, including the United States, respect “the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Denmark’s foreign minister said Monday after President Donald Trump announced the appointment of Louisiana’s governor as the U.S. special envoy to Greenland.
Trump has repeatedly called during the presidential transition and in the early months of his second term for U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland, a vast semi-autonomous territory in Denmark, and has not ruled out using military force to control the mineral-rich and strategically located Arctic island. In March, Vice President Vance visited a remote U.S. military base in Greenland and accused Denmark of underinvesting there.
The issue gradually faded from the headlines, but in August Danish officials summoned the U.S. ambassador amid reports that at least three people with ties to Trump were conducting covert influence operations in Greenland. Denmark is a NATO ally of the United States.
On Sunday, Trump announced the appointment of Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as special envoy to Greenland. “Jeff understands how important Greenland is to our national security and will vigorously advance our nation’s interests to ensure the safety, security and survival of our allies and the world,” he said.
“It’s an honor to serve in this volunteer position to keep Greenland a part of the United States,” Landry wrote in a post on X
“This appointment confirms the United States’ continued interest in Greenland,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lok Rasmussen said in a brief statement emailed by his ministry.
“However, we insist that everyone, including the United States, must respect the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he added.
Earlier this month, Denmark’s Defense Intelligence Agency said in an annual report that the United States was using its economic power to “assert its will” and threaten friends and foes militarily.