Source: Axios
“Denmark is increasing defense spending in Greenland, said a Danish official Tuesday who called the announcement’s timing with President-elect Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. should own the territory an ‘irony of fate.’ Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told the outlet Jyllands-Posten on Tuesday of plans to spend a ‘double-digit billion amount’ in krone, equivalent to at least $1.5 billion, on the self-ruled territory that’s part of its kingdom to ensure a ‘stronger presence’ in the Arctic. Trump said on Sunday the ‘ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity’ for the U.S., which has a strategically important base on the northwest coast of the territory. His remarks that built on comments he made during his first term about buying Greenland prompted the territory’s prime minister to say on Monday that it is ‘not for sale and will never be for sale.'” [editor’s note: Perhaps Trump’s public ponderings are meant to goose Denmark’s arms spending, for which the US is the second top supplier after Germany? – TLK] (12/25/24)
https://www.axios.com/2024/12/24/denmark-greenland-defense-spending-trump-us-control-comments