US won’t take over Greenland, Denmark PM says, vowing support against Trump push

Mette Frederiksen is on a three-day trip to the Arctic island days after US Vice-President J.D. Vance stirred controversy with his visit

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Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (middle) and her husband Bo Tengberg (2nd from right) disembarks the aircraft and are greeted by Greenland’s acting Head of Government, Mute Bourup Egede at the Nuuk airport on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:52pm, 2 Apr 2025Updated: 3:29am, 3 Apr 2025

Denmark’s prime minister pledged to support Greenland against US President Donald Trump’s expressions of interest in acquiring the Danish semi-autonomous territory as she landed in Nuuk on Wednesday for talks with its incoming government.

Mette Frederiksen began her three-day trip to the vast Arctic island less than a week after a visit to the territory by US Vice-President J.D. Vance drew a frosty reception from authorities in Denmark and Greenland.

“The US shall not take over Greenland. Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders,” Frederiksen told reporters in the capital Nuuk soon after her arrival.

The Danish leader said she wanted to support Greenland “in a very, very difficult situation”.

Ahead of her visit she had said she aimed to strengthen Copenhagen’s ties with the island and emphasised the importance of respectful cooperation at a time of what she described as “great pressure on Greenland”.

(From left) Greenland’s acting head of government, Mute B. Egede, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s newly elected head of government Jens-Frederik Nielsen speak in Nuuk, Greenland, on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Greenland’s incoming Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who won last month’s parliamentary election and will form a coalition government, has welcomed Frederiksen’s trip, saying that Denmark remains “Greenland’s closest partner”.