A senior lawmaker in Greenland said Donald Trump’s visit to the island nation this week was “staged” to make it appear as if Greenlandic people want to join the United States.
Trump Jr went to Greenland on Tuesday, weeks after his father said he wanted the US to take control of the autonomous Danish territory.
Trump Jr was greeted by a small gathering of people outside of the Nuuk airport. According to local reports, a few were wearing MAGA merchandise, handed to them by Trump Jr’s team, but most were “curious citizens” who wanted to witness the moment.
Pipaluk Lynge, an MP from Greenland’s largest party and chair of the parliamentary foreign and security policy committee, told Politico that it was all staged.
“No journalists were allowed to interview him. It was all staged to make it seem like we — the Greenlandic people — were MAGA and love to be a part of the USA,” Lynge said.
“People were curious, but some took pictures giving him [the] finger at the airport … Some wrote on Facebook: yankee go home,” she said.
In a statement, Greenland’s government said Trump Jr.’s visit was taking place “as a private individual” and not as an official visit, according to the Associated Press. A person familiar with the plans also told the AP that Trump Jr was in Greenland for a day trip to shoot video content for podcasting.
Still, the trip comes at a time when President-elect Trump has said the United States should take control of Greenland and hasn’t ruled out using military force to do so.
Lynge told Politico that Greenland wants “our own independence and democracy,” not to be beholden to the U.S.
Other Greenlanders share the same sentiment, according to a local representative.
“Most people don’t want it,” Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament said of joining the US. “I think some people find it quite disrespectful. And the way it has been done, and just the fact that you’re saying that you can buy another country.”
Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen have repeatedly said the island is “not for sale.”
“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.
