A FRESH diplomatic row has erupted after Donald Trump’s new special envoy to Greenland vowed to annex the strategic territory coveted by Washington.
The US President announced that he had appointed Louisiana‘s governor Jeff Landry to the position, who immediately vowed to make the Danish autonomous territory “a part of the US”.
Trump said on social media: “I am pleased to announce that I am appointing the GREAT Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, as the United States Special Envoy to Greenland.”
He added that Jeff “understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security, and will strongly advance our Country’s Interests for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Allies, and indeed, the World.”
Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has repeatedly said the US needs the resource-rich Arctic island for security reasons and has refused to rule out the use of force to secure it.
Thanking the US president, Mr Landry replied: “It’s an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the US.”
Mr Landry’s comments sparked a fresh fury in Greenland, an autonomous territory which depends alrgly depends on subsidies from Denmark, equivalent to a fifth of its GDP.
Copenhagen is in charge of Greenland’s judicial affairs, monetary policy, foreign affairs, defence and security policy.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen issued a joint statement recalling that “national borders and the sovereignty of states are rooted in international law.”
“You cannot annex another country. Not even with an argument about international security,” they said, adding: “We expect respect for our joint territorial integrity.”
In a Facebook post addressed to Greenlanders, Nielsen said the appointment of a special envoy “doesn’t change anything for us here at home.
“We will determine our future ourselves. Greenland is our country,” he wrote, adding: “Greenland belongs to Greenlanders.”
Greenland has now summoned the US ambassador in protest, with its foreign minister saying the move shows the US is still interested in the vast Danish territory.
The Danish foreign minister told television TV2 Mr Landry’s appointment and statements were “totally unacceptable” and said his ministry would call in the US ambassador in the coming days “to get an explanation”.
“As long as we have a kingdom in Denmark that consists of Denmark, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland, we cannot accept that there are those who undermine our sovereignty,” he said.
Trump has consistently refused to rule out using military force to seize the island.
And he previously boasted that the people of Greenland wanted to be part of the US.
“I think the people want to be with us,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on January 25.
But most Greenlanders oppose joining the US, but the majority are in favour of eventual independence from Denmark, opinion polls suggest.
Trump had also been putting pressure on Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen despite reportedly being told to “f**k off” by the Danes.
The Arctic is increasingly the object of a struggle between international superpowers.
Greenland, located between North America and Europe, is strategic at a time of rising US, Chinese and Russian interest in the region as the race for rare earths heats up
Greenland’s location also puts it on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the US.
Russia and China have both ramped up efforts to take control of the region, and concerns exist that America has been caught off guard.
The US has its Pituffik military base in Greenland, an essential part of Washington‘s missile-defence infrastructure.
It also opened a consulate on the island in June 2020.
Earlier in March, Vice President JD Vance blasted Denmark for not keeping Greenland safe from the looming threats from China and Russia.
Trump’s number two arrived in Greenland with his wife Usha for a controversial visit.
He told Space Force guardians at the base that Greenland’s security is under threat from Russia and China and “we must wake up to that”.
Vance blasted Denmark for failing to keep the strategic Arctic island – which he said was America’s first line of defence – safe in a blistering attack during a heated press conference.
The VP then added that America needs to lead in the Arctic region security and protect its interests.
In August, Denmark summoned the US charge d’affaires after reports of attempted interference in Greenland.
EXCLUSIVE by Patrick Harrington, Foreign News Reporter
Trump could storm Greenland and claim it within 24 hours in the “world’s shortest war”, analysts have revealed.
If Trump did invade, America’s military might would end the war in a day, politics professor Anthony Glees told The Sun.
Speaking to The Sun, Glees said Trump will be surrounded by “people who think he is great” – and it means he will be able to go ahead with any wild ideas he has.
Glees said: “In other words, we have to take him seriously.
“And if Trump wanted to take Greenland by force, he could do it in 24 hours.”
Ulrik Pram Gad, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told Politico that “there is no defensive capacity in Greenland”.
And it means it would be “the shortest war in the world”.
The conflict would present an “unchartered” situation after the US entered a pact with Denmark in 1951 to defend Greenland against any attack.
The US has a nuclear base on the island that is constantly manned by troops.
Kristian Søby Kristensen, a military researcher at the University of Copenhagen, said: “Who would the Americans be fighting? Their own military?”
Glees said it was likely that, in the event of a US invasion, “there would be no military response to it because it is unthinkable that any Nato member would attack the US”.
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