Washington DC [US], January 14 : Reacting to remarks by the Premier of Greenland expressing a "preference to remain with Denmark" over the US, United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) dismissed the statement and warned that it could create "a big problem" for the latter.
Trump's comments come after Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said the self-governed Danish territory wants to remain part of Denmark rather than join the United States, amid US President Donald Trump's ongoing push to take over the island, Al Jazeera reported.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he "disagreed" with the Premier's position and said he has no familiarity with him. "Well, that is their problem. I disagree with them. I don't know who he is. Don't know anything about him. But that is going to be a big problem for him," the US President said.
Speaking at a news conference in Copenhagen alongside Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Nielsen said the autonomous Arctic territory would prefer to remain Danish.
"We are now facing a geopolitical crisis, and if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark," he said.
"The United States has once again reiterated its desire to take over Greenland. This is something that the governing coalition in Greenland cannot accept under any circumstances," said the island's coalition government.
"As part of the Danish commonwealth, Greenland is a member of NATO, and the defence of Greenland must therefore be through NATO," it added.
On Wednesday, US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host a meeting with the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland at the White House, Al Jazeera reported.
Greenland, the world's largest island, is a self-governing territory within Denmark and a NATO partner of the United States. Both Danish and Greenlandic leaders have repeatedly rejected any suggestion that the island could be sold or annexed, emphasising that Greenland's future should be decided by its own people.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump reiterated claims of having to do "something" about Greenland, "the easy way" or "the hard way", saying that if the US doesn't take any action, Russia and China would spring in and that Washington does not want to have them as neighbours.
"We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland - and we're not going to have Russia or China as a neighbour. I would like to make a deal the easy way, but if we don't do it the easy way, we're going to do it the hard way," Trump said when he was asked about the island.