Prior to taking office, President Trump reportedly had a heated telephone conversation with Mette Frederiksen insisting that Copenhagen sell Greenland to the United States. But Denmark's prime minister told him the island is not for sale.
Since taking office, the president has maintained that the island must be under U.S. control.
Bob Maginnis of the Family Research Council (FRC), who believes the U.S. is unprepared to fight the "axis of evil," says the U.S. considers Greenland part of the frontline against incursions from Russia and China.
"It is of a strategic and an economic interest to the United States that in our own domain, which includes Greenland and Canada, that we need to have a say," the national security expert explains. "The Danes don't like that. Up to this point, they don't invest hardly at all in there, and … we will play hardball with them to make sure that our strategic interests are guarded."
He does not, however, think the U.S. necessarily needs outright control over Greenland.
"If, in fact, [Trump] can persuade Copenhagen to do what he wants, and that is give us unfettered access for security and for economic reasons, then there's no reason to take on the additional burden," Maginnis notes.
Though the U.S. would probably benefit from having sovereign control over Greenland, he says that does not need to happen "if we get what we want."
