Azernews.Az

United States Special Envoy to Greenland and former Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (pictured) voiced his belief on Tuesday, saying that US President Donald Trump is "not ready to seize" Greenland, Azernews reports.

In an interview for CNBC, the newly appointed envoy stated that the US president supports Greenland's independence, adding that Greenland is all "about robust trading," after Trump's recent statements about the island evoked strong reactions.

Earlier today, European leaders issued a joint statement, declaring that Greenland "belongs to its people" and that Denmark and the autonomous territory should decide on their issues.

President Donald Trump says the U.S. needs Greenland for national security, ostensibly to counter Russia and China. But Trump’s interest in the sparsely populated island appears to be as much about hemispheric dominance as homeland defense.

According to two people familiar with private high-level discussions and granted anonymity to share their details, the White House has shown little interest in an overture last year from Denmark’s prime minister offering the U.S. the option to increase its military presence in Greenland, where it already operates a base and has long deployed troops at liberty.

“The option of more U.S. military presence has been on the table,” said one of the people, a European defense official. “The White House is not interested.”

The second person, an American in frequent contact with the administration and European officials, said that most of what Trump says he wants out of Greenland — access to investment resources like critical minerals, more troops and military bases, better intelligence sharing — could be easily accomplished by negotiating directly with Denmark, a steadfast ally.