AP – The eldest son of United States (US) President-elect Donald Trump arrived in Greenland yesterday for a private visit that has heightened speculation that the incoming US administration could seek to take control of the Danish territory.
The Danish state broadcaster reported that Donald Trump Jr’s plane landed in Nuuk, the capital of the vast and icy territory that has some 57,000 residents.
In a statement, Greenland’s government said Trump Jr’s visit would take place “as a private individual” and not as an official visit and that Greenlandic representatives would not meet with him.
Permanent Secretary for the Greenland Foreign Affairs Department Mininguaq Kleist told The Associated Press that authorities were informed that Trump Jr would stay for about four to five hours.
There have been no requests from Trump Jr’s delegation for official meetings with government representatives. The government of Greenland has also not requested meeting with the delegation, he said.
The visit nonetheless has strong political overtones.
It comes after President-elect Donald Trump recently voiced a desire – which he also expressed in during his first presidency – to acquire the vast Artic territory. Greenland is an autonomous territory that’s part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
It also comes as Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Egede has been calling for independence from Denmark, saying in a New Year’s speech that it would be a way for Greenland to free itself from its colonial past. But Egede has also said he has no interest in Greenland becoming part of the United States, insisting that the island is not for sale.
