Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Monday he will summon the U.S. ambassador to Denmark for a conversation about President Donald Trump’s appointment of a special envoy to Greenland.
“I’m deeply upset about the appointment and the statement, which I find completely unacceptable,” Løkke Rasmussen told Danish media TV2 in an interview Monday morning. He added he hoped a meeting could take place today or tomorrow.
Since starting his second term as president, Trump has repeatedly said that the U.S. needs the resource-rich Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, for security reasons. He has refused to rule out the use of force.
Meanwhile, Greenland has shown little interest in becoming a top mining nation, and its leaders have criticized the U.S. administration’s calls for the country to become a U.S. territory.
Late Sunday, Trump posted on social media that he had appointed Governor of Louisiana Jeff Landry, as the U.S. Special Envoy to Greenland.
“Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security, and will strongly advance our Country’s Interests for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Allies, and indeed, the World,” the president wrote.
The Danish foreign ministry declined to comment further and referred to Løkke Rasmussen’s TV2 interview.
In an Instagram post translated by CNBC, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said: “Greenland belongs to Greenlanders, and the U.S. should not take over Greenland.”
“No one should be allowed to change national borders by force. Neither politically nor militarily,” Frederiksen wrote Monday, adding that she expected respect for the territorial integrity of Denmark.