Greenland’s head of government wants to talk to Trump about the future

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Lerato Khumalo

Arctic island debate

Greenland’s head of government: Are ready for talks with Trump


01/11/2025 – 9:48 p.mReading time: 1 min.

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Múte Egede, Greenland’s head of government: The politician is ready to talk to Donald Trump about the future of the island. (Source: Mads Claus Rasmussen)

The dispute between Denmark and the USA over Greenland is entering the next round. Greenland’s head of government makes an announcement to Donald Trump.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Egede is ready for talks with the future US President Donald Trump about the future of the Arctic island – but also made an announcement to the Republican.

At a news conference on Friday in Denmark, which exercises nominal sovereignty over Greenland, Egede said he accepted that Greenland is “a place that Americans see as part of their world” and that while he had not spoken to Trump, he had is open to “discussions about what connects us.”

“We are ready to talk,” he said. “Collaboration means dialogue. Collaboration means working towards solutions.”

Greenland had been a colony of Denmark since the 18th century and became a self-governing Danish territory in 1953. In 2009, the island was given the right to secure independence if it ever voted for it – a request Egede supports.

“We have a desire for independence, a desire to be the master of our own house. That’s something that everyone should respect,” he said. “Greenland is for the Greenlandic people. We don’t want to be Danish, we don’t want to be American. We want to be Greenlandic.”

Greenland’s strategic importance has increased significantly in recent years as ice-covered Arctic waterways melt and world powers jockey for new territory between the United States and Russia.