‘Don’t want to be Americans’: Greenland pushes back after Trump’s ‘hard way’ threat; asserts right to choose

Political parties in Greenland on Saturday issued a joint statement denouncing US President Donald Trump’s pressure to seize the Danish autonomous territory.“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danish, we want to be Greenlanders,” the leaders of five parties in parliament said.“The future of Greenland must be decided by Greenlanders,” they added.This comes hours after Trump once again spoke about taking action on Greenland, saying the US would have to do “something” or risk Russia and China stepping in. He said Washington does not want Moscow or Beijing as its “neighbours”.“We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland — and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbour. I would like to make a deal the easy way but if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way,” Trump said.“And by the way, I’m a fan of Denmark as well. They’ve been very nice to me. I’m a big fan but the fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago doesn’t mean that they own the land. We had lots of boats go there also. But we need that because if you take a look at outside of Greenland right now, they are Russian destroyers, Chinese destroyers and bigger there are Russian submarines all over the place. We’re not going to have Russia or China occupy Greenland and that’s what they’re going to do if we don’t. We will do something with Greenland either the nice way or the difficult way,” he added.Meanwhile, Denmark has warned that its troops are under orders to “shoot first and ask question later” if Greenland comes under attack, as concerns grow in Europe over the US openly discussing possible military action against the Arctic territory.Earlier, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen rejected Trump’s claims that the US “needs” Greenland for security reasons, calling them an “unacceptable pleasure”.Trump has renewed his push to take over Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory rich in natural resources such as rare earth minerals, uranium and iron. His latest remarks come days after the US used military force in Venezuela to seize President Nicolas Maduro.For decades, the US has viewed Greenland as strategically important. Under Trump, the island has again been placed at the centre of Washington’s Arctic strategy. Trump had earlier offered to buy Greenland in 2019 during his first term, but Denmark said it was not for sale.