'Touchy subject': Denmark’s king responds to 'headache' of Trump’s push to own Greenland

07 January

Since his November election victory, President-elect Donald Trump has made repeated suggestions that he intends to make Greenland — which Denmark controls — part of the United States. Now, the king of Denmark is subtly pushing back.

On Tuesday, Trump posted a video to his Truth Social platform of his eldest son, Donald Jr., landing in Greenland, saying "the reception has been great." He wrote that the territory needs "safety, security, strength, and PEACE!" In a separate post, he called Greenland "an incredible place," saying that its people "will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation." He added that he would "protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World."

"This is a deal that must happen," the president-elect posted. "MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!"

The Washington Post is now reporting that King Frederik X changed Denmark's coat of arms for the first time in 50 years. The previous coat of arms had its lower-left quadrant decorated with three crowns symbolizing the alliance between Denmark, Norway and Sweden, along with a polar bear to represent Greenland and a ram as the mascot for the Faroe Islands. Now, the royal crest's lower-left quadrant has been reserved entirely for the polar bear, and the ram takes up the entire upper-right quadrant. He also referenced Denmark's control of the 836,000 square-mile island in his 2025 New Year's address.

“We are all united and each of us committed for the Kingdom of Denmark,” the king said. “From the Danish minority in South Schleswig — which is even situated outside the Kingdom — and all the way to Greenland. We belong together.”

Trump previously proposed buying Greenland in 2019 — which has its own government despite being Danish territory — though Bloomberg reported that he was met with a "resounding no" from both Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede. His renewed push to acquire the territory comes as geopolitical tensions increase between the U.S., China and Russia over mineral rights and fossil fuel deposits in the arctic.

When Trump announced his appointment of investor Ken Howery as U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, he simultaneously praised Howery's previous service as U.S. Ambassador to Sweden and noted that Howery would "do a wonderful job in representing the interests of the United States" after mentioning his intent to acquire Greenland.

"For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity," the president-elect wrote in late December.

Mikkel Runge Olesen, who is a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told the Post that the subject of Greenland's sovereignty has been a "touchy subject" for Denmark since Trump's 2019 proposal. Olesen called the Danish government's management of Greenland a "huge headache," as the island of roughly 57,000 people has been pushing to formally separate from Denmark, and because Denmark relies on NATO (which gets a bulk of its funding from the United States) for protection from Russia.

The concept of the United States buying territory from Denmark has precedent. Bloomberg reported that in 1917, the U.S. bought what is now the U.S. Virgin Islands from the Danish government. While its difficult to estimate a valuation for Greenland, the island posted a GDP in excess of $3.2 billion last year.

Click here to read the Post's full article (subscription required).

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