Denmark furious as US President Donald Trump appoints special envoy to Greenland

Officials in Denmark and Greenland were furious on Monday that US President Donald Trump had appointed a special envoy to Greenland, part of his efforts to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Mr Trump announced on social media late Sunday that he was appointing Governor Jeff Landry of Louisiana, a political ally, to the position.

Denmark’s Foreign Minister quickly criticised the move as “totally unacceptable” and said he would summon the US ambassador in Copenhagen for an explanation.

It appeared to be the first time the United States had appointed a special envoy to Greenland. That puts the island of fewer than 60,000 inhabitants in a small group of foreign policy priorities, including Ukraine and the Middle East, for which Mr Trump has appointed trusted allies.

Mr Landry quickly made it clear that he understood what Mr Trump wanted from him, writing on social platform X: “It’s an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the U.S.”

Most of Greenland lies within the Arctic Circle, where world powers are competing for control of the top of the world to access untapped natural resources and emerging shipping corridors.

Greenland has critical minerals that have attracted the interest of top officials in the Trump Administration, and it served as a base for US military operations during World War II and the Cold War. There is still a remote US base on the island’s northern side.

In his post on Truth Social, Mr Trump wrote that “Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security.”

But the appointment drew condemnation from Greenland and further deteriorated the relationship between the United States and Denmark, which used to be close allies.

“You cannot annex other countries,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark and Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen of Greenland said in a joint statement Monday.

“Not even by invoking international security. Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders, and the United States must not take over Greenland.”

Mr Nielsen added in a statement on Facebook that the appointment “may sound big” but “doesn’t change anything for us at home.”

“We decide our future ourselves,” Mr Nielsen said.

Denmark has exercised varying forms of control over Greenland for centuries and absorbed it into its kingdom in 1953. Today, Greenland manages its own domestic affairs with a budget subsidised up to 60 per cent by Denmark, which also manages its defense and foreign policy.

Many of Greenland’s leaders support independence, but differ on how soon that should happen and whether to build a closer relationship with the United States.

Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Denmark’s foreign minister, told Danish television Monday that he was “deeply upset” by Mr Trump’s announcement and that he planned to summon Ken Howery, who became the US ambassador to Denmark in October.

The Danish Government has twice this year summoned US diplomats to complain about reports that the United States was spying and running a covert influence campaign in Greenland.

This month, in a first for the Danish government, Denmark’s military intelligence said that shifts in US policy were generating new uncertainties for Denmark’s security.

The appointment of a special envoy for Greenland could put pressure on Mr Howery, a former executive at PayPal who is considered close to Mr Trump.

In November, Mr Howery dodged a question from journalists about whether the United States would ever take Greenland by force, but he pledged cooperation.

“I very much look forward to working with my colleagues in the Danish government on our shared concerns regarding security in the Arctic,” he said, according to DR, the Danish broadcaster.

Mr Landry, a Republican who was elected Louisiana’s governor in 2023, has spent his first term projecting toughness and loyalty to Mr Trump. The President often calls Mr Landry a “great governor.”

Mr Landry has prioritised tackling crime, particularly in New Orleans. He has enthusiastically supported Mr Trump’s use of the National Guard, asking the president in September to deploy as many as 1000 National Guard troops in his state.

Danish officials and analysts said that while the United States has previously appointed envoys for the entire Arctic region, Mr Landry would be the first special envoy just for Greenland.

Mikkel Runge Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, described the move as a “significant escalation” by Mr Trump, who has threatened to acquire Greenland through a financial transaction or military force several times since he returned to the Oval Office.

“It is not as if there is an abundance of special envoys,” Mr Olesen said.

“So when one is appointed with the purpose of asserting control over Greenland, it signals that Greenland is very much in focus at the highest level.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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