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11:31 26.12.2025 •
President Trump with Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry on March 24, 2025
Photo: Getty Images
President Trump announced he was appointing Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry as special envoy to Greenland — drawing warnings from the Danish government over continued US interest in annexing the world’s largest island.
“Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security, and will strongly advance our Country’s Interests for the Safety, Security and Survival of our Allies, and indeed, the World,” Trump announced in appointing Landry, who responded: “It’s an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the US”, ‘The New York Post’ quotes.
Landry, 54, added that he would remain as governor in addition to his new role. The former congressman and state attorney general was elected the Pelican State’s chief executive in 2023.
“We need Greenland for national security, not for minerals. We have so many sites for minerals and oil and everything,” Trump said, trying to make the case for annexing Greenland, despite its status as a self-governing territory of Denmark. “If you take a look at Greenland, you look up and down the coast, you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need it for national security. We have to have it,” he added.
Trump repeatedly stated after his election and in the early months of his second term that the US should take over Greenland, citing its strategic location along key shipping lanes and reserves of untapped mineral resources. Behind closed doors, administration officials have mapped out a plan for the island to become independent and then enter into a compact of free association with the US, giving Washington a role in certain areas such as defense.
In March, Vice President JD Vance visited US forces at the Pituffik Space Base, where he swiped at the Copenhagen government.
“Our message to Denmark is very simple: you have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” the veep said. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people.”
While the issue has fallen out of the headlines in the US in recent months, Denmark summoned then-acting US ambassador Mark Stroh this past August following a report that three people with ties to the president had sought to influence public opinion on the island toward Washington.
Earlier this month, the Danish Defense Intelligence Service said in its annual report that the US “is leveraging economic power, including threats of high tariffs, to assert its will, and the possibility of employing military force – even against allies – is no longer ruled out.”
A protester holds up a, “We are not for sale” sign at a protest in Greenland
Photo: AFP
Denmark’s foreign minister said he was “deeply upset” by US President Donald Trump’s appointment of a special envoy to Greenland who openly declared that he wished to see the island become part of the United States, CNN reports.
Trump announced the appointment of Jeff Landry, the Governor of Louisiana, as special envoy to Greenland on Monday in a post on Truth Social. “Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our national security, and will strongly advance our country’s interests for the safety, security, and survival of our allies, and indeed, the World,” Trump posted on his social media platform.
“I am deeply upset by this appointment of a special envoy. And I am particularly upset by his statements, which we find completely unacceptable,” Lars Løkke Rasmussen told Denmark’s national broadcaster TV 2, according to Reuters news agency.
Both Greenland and Denmark, a NATO ally of the US, are staunchly opposed to the idea.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen reiterated their opposition Monday to US plans to take over Greenland, stating “you cannot annex another country. Not even with an argument about international security,” according to Reuters.
“Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders and the US shall not take over Greenland,” they said in a joint statement.
Nielsen said that Trump’s announcement “may sound big, but it does not change anything for us. We decide our own future,” Reuters reported.
Rasmussen said earlier that the new appointment “confirms the continued American interest in Greenland,” Reuters reported. “However, we insist that everyone – including the US – must show respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark.”
Meanwhile, European Union spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said that “preserving the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, its sovereignty and the inviability of its borders is essential for the European Union.”
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