Donald Trump’s son, Donald Jr (second right), visits Greenland in January 2025. AP/Alamy
President Donald Trump has not abandoned his efforts to acquire Greenland — indeed, he is pressing ahead. On Sunday night, the president named Louisiana Republican Governor Jeff Landry, a Trump ally, as a special envoy to the autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, a decision that angered both Greenlanders and Danes.
“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,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Landry quickly responded: “It’s an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the U.S. This in no way affects my position as Governor of Louisiana!”
Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Denmark’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, blasted the move.
“I’m deeply upset about the appointment and the statement, which I find completely unacceptable,” Løkke Rasmussen told Danish media TV2, as CNBC reported.
Trump, CNBC noted, “has refused to rule out the use of force” to acquire Greenland, whose “leaders have criticized the U.S. administration’s calls for the country to become a U.S. territory.”
The New York Times likened the appointment of a special envoy to the situations in Ukraine and the Middle East, at least in one respect — in each case, the president “tapped someone close to him to manage all of these as priorities.”
Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul called the appointment of a special envoy “outrageous.”
“Imagine,” he wrote, “if Mexico appointed a special envoy to make Louisiana a part of Mexico? Our ally Denmark deserves more respect than this.”
Valerie Morkevičius, an associate professor of political science, charged that Governor Landry is proclaiming “his support for violating an ally’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
She noted: “US foreign policy these days operates at the corner of shame and shambolic.”
The Times reported that “the appointment drew condemnation from Greenland and further deteriorated the relationship between the United States and Denmark, which used to be close allies.”
“You cannot annex other countries,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark and Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen of Greenland said in a joint statement on Monday. “Not even by invoking international security. Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders, and the United States must not take over Greenland.”
Mikkel Runge Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, called Landry’s appointment a “significant escalation.”