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Denmark Says Greenland Should Determine its Own Independence in Call to Trump

Denmark Says Greenland Should Determine its Own Independence in Call to Trump

The Art of the Deal: A review of the Compact of Free Association that could make everyone happy.

Google Maps https://www.google.com/maps/place/Greenland/@66.171705,-80.5472135,3.09z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x4ea20dbbe3c07715:0x34cf9d830114e218!8m2!3d71.706936!4d-42.604303?hl=en&authuser=0

We are continuing to watch the developments related to Greenland, which have gotten especially interesting after President-elect Donald Trump tasked his pick for Ambassador to Denmark with persuading the Danes to sell us the resource-rich Arctic land.

Shortly after that announcement, Greenland suffered a major power outage due to a downed transmission line. The blackout plunged the region into darkness as temperatures dropped below -27 degrees Fahrenheit (-33°C).

This was shortly followed by Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Egede calling for independence from Denmark, marking a significant shift in the rhetoric surrounding the Arctic island’s future.

Trump’s son later went on an “unofficial” visit to Greenland.  At that time, I speculated that persuading the people of Greenland to become an independent territory of the United States might be the best deal that could be placed on the table.

Recently, Egede appeared at a joint press conference alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, during which he said that he’s ready to speak with Trump as ‘the status quo is no longer an option.’

Now Frederiksen had a 45-minute call with Trump, saying Greenland should determine its independence.

According to a press release from her office following a phone call between the two leaders on Wednesday, Frederiksen reiterated to Trump Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Egede’s assertion that “Greenland is not for sale.”

The Danish premier said last week that she had requested to speak to Trump but hadn’t yet heard back. At the time, she assured there was “no reason to believe” Trump actually plans to invade Greenland.

Frederiksen told Danish news outlet TV2 in an interview following her call with Trump that their conversation “confirmed” that “there is great American interest in Greenland.” The call did not appear to bring the issue to a conclusion, with both leaders agreeing to continued dialogue.

Trump has not spoken publicly about the call, choosing instead to repost on social media the results of a 2019 poll that found that 68 percent of Greenlanders supported independence from Denmark.

The news aligns with reports that the Danish government has privately sent a message to Trump’s team that Copenhagen is happy to negotiate military and economic deals related to Greenland, but wants the conversations to take place behind closed doors.

There are a variety of deals that could be negotiated. One intriguing option could be creating a Compact of Free Association (COFA).

In a nutshell, a COFA is a formal agreement between the US and and a sovereign nation that establishes a unique relationship, granting these nations significant economic aid, defense guarantees, and access to U.S. programs, while allowing the U.S. strategic military rights in their territories. The Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau all have such agreements.

There are many benefits for Greenland in a COFA. Economic Assistance. To begin with, the US would provide financial aid to support economic development, infrastructure, and public services in these nations.

The US would handle all defense matters in the nation’s territories. Citizens of Greenland could live, work, and study in this country without a visa. They would also be eligible for certain U.S. federal programs.

Yet Greenland would retain its sovereignty and conduct its own foreign relations, except in areas where it agrees to consult with the US, particularly on defense matters.

One Dane is in favor of making a deal with Trump, as it would allow Greenland to develop and prosper in ways Denmark just can’t support.

And the mineral resources, as well as having the region as part of an Arctic defense strategy may make a COFA the perfect option for Greenland.

It will be interesting to see where this goes once Trump is inaugurated.

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Comments

“saying Greenland should determine its independence”

Agree with that. The island, should it decide to have closer ties with the USA (whatever that might mean), should be self-sustaining. We don’t need another group with the hand out,

http://web.paulistmissionaries.org/wp-content/uploads/jesus-holding-out-his-hand.jpg

So many good things can come from this, including neutralizing China’s domination of rare earth production.

Greenland is UP there. Over half the land mass is north of Alaska.

    Paula in reply to smooth. | January 20, 2025 at 11:18 am

    Reminds me of two of my favorite songs:

    1. “North to Alaska, the rush is over”

    2. “Further north to Greenland the rush is on”

50,000 Eskimos can’t be wrong.

The Mercator projection probably has a lot to do with it.

I remember that Windows 95 flight simulator wouldn’t let you get within 50 miles of the North Pole because the mathematics broke down.

“We don’t want to be a state but having a status similar to American Samoa is in the cards.”

Denmark just double-checked how much they spend on a dependent Greenland. …

Michael Knowles went with Trump Jr.
A young person spoke to Knowles and showed him a ruby bigger than a golf ball. He picked it up outside his village but Denmark doesn’t allow mining or mineral exports.

Here’s MY personal uninformed by facts theory:

Greenland had a lot of mineral and oil/gas. Someone is going to exploit that. Period. If Denmark continues to control Greenland, Denmark will control who gets the contracts to that exploitation and DENMARK will get all the money, some of which they will give to Greenland as “welfare”.

However, if Greenland is an independent nation, Greenlanders will decide who does the exploitation and will get ALL the money. It may (ideally but improbably) be like Norway where everyone profits. Giving the country a deal like Micronesia et al in return for priority in bidding for U.S. firms and for declining Chinese investment would be a pretty good deal for everybody.

Oh, except the Danes. But to paraphrase Stalin, “How many divisions does The Pope have?”

“Citizens of Greenland could live, work, and study in this country without a visa. They would also be eligible for certain U.S. federal programs.”

OMG! White Nordics crossing our borders unchallenged! The preferences are wrong — all wrong! Democrats clutch pearls nationwide!

    Alex deWynter in reply to henrybowman. | January 21, 2025 at 9:44 am

    Even better — the majority of the population of Greenland is Inuit, which places them in our lefty friends’ BIPOC category. So they can’t complain.

The notion that the United States would “invade” Greenland is beyond-the-pale stupid. We do not as a nation attack the lands of other sovereigns which have shown us no aggression, just to get our hands on the intrinsic wealth of those lands. Daresay, Trump would have nowhere near majority support for such a mission. A COFA seems a practical way to get much the same thing without all unpleasantries of a military invasion and suffering glances askance from the rest of the free world.