Donald Trump Jr. made a whirlwind visit to Greenland on Tuesday — as a tourist, he says. He was met by local supporters, and a Danish newspaper even blogged the visit.
The trip comes in the wake of recent comments by his father, President-elect Donald Trump, expressing interest in the U.S. buying the island.
Trump Jr. told the local media that he was in Greenland for a "very long personal day trip" — no shopping involved.
Here's what to know about Greenland and Trump's interest in the autonomous territory of Denmark.
What has Trump said about the U.S. and Greenland?
The president-elect talked about buying Greenland while he was on the campaign trail and revived interest again last month after he said on Truth Social: "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."
Ahead of his son's trip to Greenland this week, Trump wrote on Truth Social that "Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation" and that "This is a deal that must happen."
During a news conference Tuesday, the president-elect said he couldn't rule out using military or economic coercion to seize Greenland or the Panama Canal.
Trump's aspirations to buy Greenland date back at least to August 2019, during his first term in the White House. At the time, he defended his idea in part by saying he wasn't the first U.S. leader to suggest it.
So why Greenland?
It isn't exactly clear what Trump's ambitions are for a U.S.-controlled Greenland. But on Tuesday, he said the U.S. needs both Greenland and the Panama Canal for "economic security."
Experts say Greenland has great value, both geopolitically and as a source for vital minerals that could aid a country in the long term.
"From the perspective of the Arctic, Greenland is our eyes on everything that's going on, including on the Northern Sea Route, which is controlled by Russia," Amanda Lynch, professor of earth sciences at Brown University, told NPR. "In addition, Greenland has many resources — not just hydrocarbons but also rare earth minerals and uranium. And when we're thinking about the green energy transition, access to rare earth minerals in particular is important for any nation."
However, it's not very likely that Trump could take over Greenland, Lynch says. Instead, it would be more productive for the U.S. to pursue strong partnerships and support sovereign governments to "develop their assets and to work with us."
"And if we're positive actors in that space, then I think that that's both the more positive and also the more likely path forward," she says.
Greenland, which is about three times the size of Texas and has a population of about 56,000 people, is an autonomous territory of Denmark and the world's largest island that isn't a continent. It still relies on Denmark for foreign, defense and security policy, but it has its own parliament, premier and Cabinet.
What have Greenland and Denmark said?
When Trump first floated the idea of the U.S. buying Greenland in August 2019, Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said then that "Greenland is not for sale."
Frederiksen urged respect for Greenland after Trump's news conference.
"We need very, very close cooperation with the United States," Frederiksen said, according to Danish television's TV 2. "On the other hand, I would like to encourage everyone to respect that the Greenlanders are a people. They are a population. It is their country that is at stake here."
Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede responded sharply on Tuesday.
"Let me repeat - Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland. Our future and fight for independence is our business," he said on Facebook.
"While others, including Danes and Americans, are entitled to their opinions, but we should not be caught up in the hysteria and external pressures."
"The future is ours and ours to shape," he said, adding that "Every day is spent on working to become independent."
And in what some view as a rebuke to Trump's interest in acquiring Greenland, Denmark's King Frederik X has changed his country's coat of arms to feature the symbol of Greenland more prominently. In announcing the new design — the first since 1972 — the Danish Royal House said the king wanted to create a "contemporary royal coat of arms that both reflects the Realm and takes into account history as well as the heraldic tradition."
The new coat of arms, unveiled Jan. 1, gives Greenland, represented by a polar bear, and the Faroe Islands, represented by a ram, their own sections, which "strengthens the Realm's prominence in the royal coat of arms." Previously, the symbols of the Faroe Islands and Greenland, along with three crowns, were all contained in a single section.
In his new year's speech, the king said, "We are all united."
"From the Danish minority in South Schleswig — which is even situated outside the kingdom — and all the way to Greenland. We belong together," he said.
NPR's Scott Neuman, Philip Ewing and Leila Fadel contributed to this report.
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