President Donald Trump has said the United States needs Greenland for its “national security” after naming Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as special envoy to the Danish Arctic island, prompting protests from Copenhagen.“We need Greenland for national security, not for minerals,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Monday, adding that Landry would “lead the charge”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listLandry said he would make the Arctic territory “a part of the US”.The comments drew sharp rebukes from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen.“You cannot annex another country … Not even with an argument about international security,” they said in a joint statement. “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders and the US shall not take over Greenland,” they added.Since Trump returned to the White House in January, he has commented on several occasions about his desire for the mineral-rich island, a demand Denmark and many other European nations have steadfastly rejected.So, what does Trump sending an envoy mean for Greenland, and could he succeed in acquiring it?Why is Trump saying Greenland is ‘essential’ to US national security?The US president insisted that the resource-rich island is “essential” for security reasons, rather than for its mineral resources.“If you take a look at Greenland, you look up and down the coast, you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” he said on Monday, while adding that the US has “many sites for minerals and oil”. Advertisement Trump’s interest in Greenland is not new.During his first term as US president from 2017 to 2021, he mooted the idea of buying the island from Denmark. Trump then postponed a 2019 visit to the Nordic country after Danish PM Frederiksen slammed the idea.He has refused to rule out …
