INTERNATIONAL
Greenland Gets New Defense Tools Including Drones, Dog Sled Teams After Trump’s Comments

On Tuesday, Denmark earmarked $1.5 billion in defense spending for Greenland after incoming President Donald Trump again made overtures to buy the autonomous territory.
The exact amount of defense funding for Greenland is not known, but the BBC reports that Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced it as in the “double digit million” amount of krone, which would place the minimum U.S. dollar equivalent at $1.5 billion.
The money is likely to be used to increase the amount of military personnel at Arctic Command and one of the country’s airports, the BBC reported, as well as to purchase two ships, two long-range drones and two dog sled teams.
Poulsen said the deal had been pre-planned, and the timing of Trump’s comments was merely “irony.”
READ MORE: Donald Trump Isn’t the First President to Try to Buy Greenland
Trump has suggested that the U.S. should purchase Greenland, an autonomous territory owned by Denmark. It was an occasional topic during his first term as well, though most thought the president was joking, at least initially.
Trump’s current interest was first declared on Sunday when he announced Ken Howery will be the U.S. ambassador to Denmark. He declared that “the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity” in the announcement.
On Monday evening, RNC Chair Michael Whatley discussed with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade the potential price of such a deal, according to Mediaite.
“Well, I think from a national security perspective, as he said, certainly [it’s] a place that is very rich in minerals and is, uh, you know, geopolitically important for him,” Whatley said. “And it’s a conversation that we wanna have with Denmark about being able to use the resources up there.”
“Yeah, it’s gonna cost about $1.5 trillion, but it probably will pay off,” Kilmeade responded.
While Kilmeade has placed a price tag on Greenland, it is unlikely Denmark would agree to sell. Denmark has repeatedly declined offers to buy the territory. Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede invoked the country’s desire for independence in shutting down Trump’s overtures.
“Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom,” Egede said Monday, according to Reuters.
Greenland passed a law in 2009 which gave the territory more power to self-govern. Part of that law includes a provision for independence if the citizens vote for it. However, Greenland currently gets a block grant from Denmark that makes up one-quarter of the territory’s gross domestic product. If Greenland were to become fully independent, it would lose that money.
While citizens of the territory are in favor of independence, according to polling, just not at the expense of a drop in the standard of living. In response to this, those fighting for independence have worked to diversify Greenland’s economy.
Image via Shutterstock
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