The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said this Thursday (22) that the agreement he is negotiating on Greenland has as one of its objectives the “full access” of Americans to the island, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
The Republican president spoke about the subject in an interview with Fox Business, one day after announcing that Washington and NATO agreed on the “structure” of an agreement regarding the island in the Arctic.
“Everything goes through Greenland. If the bad guys start shooting, it goes through Greenland,” Trump said in the interview. “It’s priceless. It’s incredible. You know, [o ex-presidente] Ronald Reagan [1981-1989] We had this idea a long time ago, but we didn’t have the necessary technology at that time. The concept was great, but there was no technology. Now we have unbelievable technology.”
Trump had been reaffirming that the United States needs Greenland for national security purposes, mainly as a defense against the presence of China and Russia in the Arctic, and that the island is needed for the Golden Dome defense project, an anti-missile shield inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome.
Asked by Fox Business whether “full access” would require the purchase of Greenland, as Trump had been saying before Wednesday’s announcement (21), the American president disagreed.
“Well, we’re talking about it, the details are being negotiated now, but essentially it’s full access. There’s no end, there’s no deadline [o acordo],” Trump responded.
According to information from the international press, the structure mentioned yesterday by the American president would involve the concession of sovereignty over areas of Greenland so that the US can build military bases and supervision by Washington of strategic investments on the island, so that the Chinese and Russians do not establish a “foothold” in the territory.
However, this Thursday, the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, said that the country can negotiate “everything in political terms: security, investments, economy”, but not its “sovereignty”.
In announcing the deal, Trump said that tariffs that would be imposed starting in February on imports from eight European countries that oppose the American annexation of Greenland, including Denmark, have been suspended.
