US-based billionaire Elon Musk has said the people of Greenland would be “welcomed” as American citizens after Donald Trump threatened to take control of the country.
The tech mogul and close Trump ally appeared to express his support for the president-elect’s plans after Trump refused to rule out using military force or economic coercion to take over the island.
Musk wrote in a post on X: “If the people of Greenland want to be part of America, which I hope they do, they would be most welcome!”
He was retweeting an earlier post by Trump, in which the president-elect shared an image of his son Donald Trump Jr visiting the country just hours after his dad issued his chilling warning.
The incoming US president captioned the post: “Greenland is beautiful!!!”
It was not Trump’s only post about his son’s visit.
Another read: “Don Jr and my Reps landing in Greenland.
“The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump Jr A reportedly handed out “Make Greenland Great Again” hats as he touched down in the capital Nuuk.
Trump first expressed his interest in taking control of Greenland in 2019, when he raised the idea of buying the Denmark-owned island despite being told it was not for sale.
Speaking at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, Trump insisted that the United States needed the island, as well as the Panama Canal, “for national security”.
He said: “We need Greenland for national security purposes. People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do they should give it up because we need it for national security.”
Denmark is a founding member of NATO with no precedent existing for a fellow member state to threaten military action against another member, let alone commit to deploying troops.
Greenland was a Danish colony until 1979 when it became self-ruled with its own parliament. Denmark still maintains control over its foreign and defense policy.
Trump’s attempts to purchase the island are also not the first by the United States. In 1867 President Andrew Johnson also considered buying the island as the country purchased Alaska.