Macron’s visit comes amid Trump’s continued threats to annex Greenland. Since his first term, Trump has repeatedly mused about acquiring the island, home to 56,000 residents but eyed by the U.S. president for its mineral reserves and strategic position in the Arctic. Since his reelection in November, Trump has become increasingly aggressive in his desire to control the island, declining to rule out the use of force to do so.
Frederiksen called Macron’s visit “yet another concrete testament to European unity” in the face of Trump’s threats.
In May, Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt said in an interview with POLITICO that the country wanted to deepen cooperation with the European Union, with mineral resources being the primary area where they could join forces.
Greenland is rich in minerals such as uranium and graphite, both of which are crucial to manufacturing and global supply chains. Still, the country’s mineral stores remain largely unexplored and untapped.
The U.S. has long maintained a military presence on Greenland. In March, U.S. Vice President JD Vance visited the Pituffik Space Base, which boasts the Pentagon’s northernmost deepwater port and has long functioned as a strategic location to watch Russia and China.
Vance urged the island to “cut a deal” with Washington, saying, “I think that you’d be a lot better coming under the United States security umbrella than you have been under Denmark’s security umbrella.”
“You cannot annex another country,” Frederiksen countered after Vance’s remarks in Greenland. “Not even with an argument about international security.”
