Donald Trump swats at Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen for ‘nasty’ statement on Greenland
- ‘You don’t talk to the United States that way,’ president says after PM dismisses idea of US buying Greenland as ‘absurd’
- Trump cancelled state visit to Copenhagen by tweet, although Denmark says invitation is ‘still open’
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Quint Forgey on politico.com on August 21, 2019.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of disrespecting the United States with a “nasty” and “inappropriate statement” opposing Trump’s bid to purchase Greenland.
“I thought that the prime minister's statement that it was ‘absurd’, that it was an ‘absurd’ idea, was nasty. I thought it was an inappropriate statement,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “All she had to do is say, ‘No, we wouldn't be interested.’”
The president added: “She's not talking to me. She's talking to the United States of America. You don't talk to the United States that way – at least under me.”
Frederiksen on Sunday dismissed as “an absurd discussion” the prospect of Trump’s administration buying the semi-autonomous Arctic territory, which is a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark.
“Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland. I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously,” she told the Sermitsiaq newspaper.
