Sawt Falasteen - Trump Jr. in Greenland on 'tourist' trip as father eyes territory

At a press conference held at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida while his son visited the Arctic island, Trump was asked whether he would exclude the use of military force to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, following comments made before Christmas that he wanted to take over both.

"I am not going to commit to that (no military action). It might be that you have to do something," Trump told reporters.

"We need them for economic security," he said.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish television TV2 she did not believe Trump's pursuit would ever go that far.

"I don't have the fantasy to imagine that it'll ever get to that," she said, calling for cool heads to prevail.

"As a very close ally of the United States, I think there is reason to be happy about the increasing American interest. But it will have to be done in a way that is respectful of the Greenlandic people," she said.

A day earlier, Trump called Greenland "an incredible place", promising that its people would prosper should it ever be annexed by Washington.

"We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

And on Tuesday, he wrote that the island needed "safety, security, strength and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen."

But as Trump Jr. arrived Tuesday for what he said was a day trip, Frederiksen warned: "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders."

Trump Jr. insisted that he was not there "to buy Greenland". "I will be talking to people. I'm just going there as a tourist," he said on the social media platform Rumble.

Greenland holds major mineral and oil reserves -- though oil and uranium exploration are banned -- and has a strategic location in the Arctic, and is already home to a US military base.

Greenlandic media said Trump Jr. left Greenland after several hours, and no official meetings were held.

"This particular trip is probably just as Trump Jr. said himself, to make video content," Ulrik Pram Gad, a Greenland expert at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told AFP.

"What's worrying is the way Trump [Senior] is talking about international relations, and it can be even worse if he starts 'grabbing land'," he said.

- Pushback -

Trump first said he wanted to buy Greenland in 2019 during his first term as president, an offer quickly rejected by Greenland and Denmark.

"Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom," Greenland's Prime Minister Mute Egede said after Trump's Christmas message.

"Most Greenlanders will be in line with their prime minister that Greenland is not for sale but open for business," Pram Gad said.

Aaja Chemnitz, a lawmaker who represents Greenland in the Danish parliament, rejected Trump's offer with a firm "No thank you".

"Unbelievable that some people can be so naive as to believe that our happiness lies in us becoming American citizens," she wrote on Facebook, adding that she refused to be "a part of Trump's wet dreams of expanding his empire to include our country".

With 57,000 inhabitants spread out across 2.2 million square kilometres (850,000 square miles), Greenland is geographically closer to North America than to Europe.

Colonised by the Danes in the 18th century, it is located around 2,500 kilometres (1,550 miles) from Copenhagen, on which it depends for more than half of its public budget.

The subsidies it receives from Copenhagen amount to a fifth of its GDP.

The other pillar of its economy is the fisheries industry.

- Steps toward independence -

Greenland has been autonomous since 1979 and has its own flag, language and institutions, but the judiciary, monetary policy, defence and foreign affairs all remain under Danish control.

But Denmark's creation of an Arctic ambassador to the island two years ago -- a person with no ties to Greenland -- has caused friction between Copenhagen and Nuuk.

In late December, the Danish government announced that Greenland would from now on appoint candidates to the post, and represent the country on its Arctic Council.

In his New Year's address, Greenland's Prime Minister Egede said the territory had to take "a step forward" and shape its own future, "notably when it comes to trading partners and the people with whom we should collaborate closely".

In 2023, plans for a Greenlandic constitution were presented to the local parliament, the Inatsisartut.

There has been little public debate about it so far, but the issue could become a talking point in Greenland's coming legislative elections, which must be held before April 6.

I.Saadi--SF-PST