Denmark was said to have been in “crisis mode” after a 45-minute call between Trump and Frederiksen before the inauguration.
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According to the Financial Times, Frederiksen told Trump that Greenland was not for sale despite his “big interest”.
Trump was then said to have become “aggressive” and threatened to pummel Denmark with tariffs unless it agreed to sell Greenland.
In a press conference before the call, the US president said his main motivation for acquiring Greenland was “national security”.
A source on Trump’s team said the purpose of the planned expansion was to send a “strong, deliberate message to Beijing” that American interests in the Arctic would be protected.
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Donald Trump Jr, the president’s son, visited Greenland last week and posed with residents wearing MAGA hats.
In response, his father said: “I am hearing that the people of Greenland are MAGA.”
The Pentagon’s latest Arctic strategy, published late last year, shows China is taking an increased interest in the region.
Denmark has previously been willing to sell its overseas territories, offering the Danish West Indies to Prussia in 1864 and to the US in 1867.
A deal was eventually struck during the First World War when the islands were sold to the US for $US25 million, equivalent to about $US700 million ($1.11 billion) today, and renamed the US Virgin Islands.
The Telegraph, London
