Frederiksen responded on Tuesday after Trump again said Greenland should become part of the United States and his son, Don Jr, landed in the Arctic territory for a private visit, reportedly to record a podcast. That came after Trump also suggested in December that the US buy Greenland.
A meeting between Greenland’s government leader Múte Egede and King Frederik was meanwhile cancelled for scheduling reasons, Egede and the Danish palace said.
“My standpoint and the government’s standpoint is very clear, that the future of Greenland will be defined in Greenland,” Frederiksen told broadcaster TV2.
“Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders,” she added.
Frederiksen was also prime minister when Trump originally raised the idea of buying Greenland during his first term as US president in 2019.
The then-rookie Danish PM responded in strong terms on that occasion, calling the idea “absurd” and offending Trump so much that he cancelled a planned state visit to Denmark.
She has been more restrained this time around. In December, the government referred press questions towards Egede’s comments on the matter while maintaining that a final decision on the matter must be made by Greenland.
“If Greenland, at some point, makes a decision of some character, then we will address that as the Danish government,” she told broadcaster DR on Tuesday, while adding “we have to stay calm” in regard to Denmark’s response to the issue.
EXPLAINER: How easily could Greenland break away from Denmark?
“I don’t doubt for a second that we’re stronger together,” she said to DR of talk of Greenland leaving the Danish kingdom.
The Danish PM has spoken with Trump by telephone once since he won the US presidential election. The call took place in November and Greenland was not discussed.
Opposition politicians earlier called for a stronger response by Frederiksen to Trump’s latest overtures on Greenland.
The leader of the libertarian Liberal Alliance party, Alex Vanopslagh, asked “where on earth” Frederiksen was and called her “invisible”, in a social media post. Vanopslagh said the situation called for talks between Denmark and the US over a closer relationship.
Pelle Dragsted, leader of the left wing Red Green Alliance, said prior to Trump’s most recent comments that the government response so far had been “feeble”.
“There are times when a head of government needs to show what they’re made of, and this is one of them," Dragsted said on Friday.
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