Danish royal family ‘surprised’ after Trump calls off meeting over Greenland
Donald Trump’s decision to abruptly cancel his Denmark trip came as “a surprise” to the country’s royal family, a spokesperson has said.
The royal household had formally invited the US president to visit Denmark on 2-3 September.
But Mr Trump changed his mind after the Danish prime minister rejected his offer to buy Greenland, and tweeted on Tuesday that the visit would be postponed.
The president reportedly became interested in the island, which is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, after hearing about Greenland’s natural resources.
But Mr Trump insisted at the weekend that such a transaction was not a top priority.
Denmark had rebuffed the idea, saying Greenland was not for sale.
The US has not purchased land in such a way since 1917, when the country bought the US Virgin Islands.
The president’s idea was also widely mocked online.
“Greenland is not for sale, Greenland is not Danish, Greenland belongs to Greenland,” Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, said over the weekend.
“I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously,” she said to the Sermitsiaq newspaper.
She also dismissed the discussion as “absurd”.
“Denmark is a very special country with incredible people, but based on prime minister Mette Frederiksen’s comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time,” Mr Trump tweeted on Tuesday.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former Nato secretary general and Danish premier, said Mr Trump’s cancellation could work out for the best. “The Arctic’s security and environmental challenges are too important to be considered alongside hopeless discussions like the sale of Greenland,” he said on Twitter.
Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, a lawmaker from Greenland’s opposition party Inuit Ataqatigiit, said she was not surprised at the cancellation but it underlined the territory’s importance.
“The US is an interesting ally for Greenland, but we also wish for Greenland to remain in the union we have today.”
A 6m (20ft)-tall inflatable blimp depicting a baby version of Trump, most recently seen at a protest in London, will reappear at an anti-Trump rally to be held in Copenhagen on 2 September despite the president’s no-show, organisers said.
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The royal palace’s spokesperson said the household had no further comments.
There was no immediate reaction from the Danish government.
Additional reporting by agencies
