Greenland's future

The Prime Minister on Trump's words: "Serious"

Greenland's Prime Minister Múte Egede has made a brief statement about Donald Trump's remarks.

For Danmarks Radio, he first repeats his message that Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders, and adds:

- I think what has come out are serious statements, but we'll take it from there.

Earlier, Egede wrote on Facebook that Danes and Americans are allowed to have whatever opinions they want, but that Greenlanders should not let themselves be influenced by "hysteria and external pressure".

The comment follows Trump's press conference, where the future president does not rule out putting economic or military pressure on Denmark to make Greenland part of the United States. 

EU may retaliate if the United States imposes tariffs on Denmark

If Donald Trump uses trade tariffs to pressure Denmark about Greenland, he will receive a collective response from the EU. This is what Jens Ladefoged Mortensen, a lecturer in political science at the University of Copenhagen, told Ritzau according to TV2.

Just over a year ago, the EU countries entered into a pact to prevent foreign powers from using tariffs as weapons against individual member states, says Ladefoged Mortensen. At the time, they were mainly thinking of China, which had not even made such a clear threat, he adds.

He is supported by Danmarks Radio's EU correspondent Ole Ryborg.

- If the Americans introduce tariffs on (Danish) products, Brussels sees it as tariffs on the EU, and then it is the EU Commission that responds. This is normally done with punitive tariffs in return, he says.

Voices about Greenland
Professor: Trump is trolling and taking control of the narrative

Is Donald Trump serious when he talks about making Canada part of the US and taking control of both the Panama Canal and Greenland? Or is it in fact a new foreign policy strategy? Experts that Bloomberg has spoken to are unsure.

– I think he probably means what he says, says Kori Schake, the American Enterprise Institute’s foreign policy director.

Vali Nasr, a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins, argues that the motive is unimportant. The fact that leaders like Mette Frederiksen are taking the game seriously shows that Trump has already managed to take control of the narrative.

– Yes, he’s trolling these countries, but he’s also trolling the establishment, and you can see that he manages to provoke them every time, says Nasr.