Denmark’s prime minister has told Donald Trump to “stop the threats” about taking control of Greenland.
In a message on Sunday, Mette Frederiksen said “it makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to take over Greenland.”
“The US has no right to annex any of the three nations in the Danish kingdom,” she added.
READ NEXT: Sadiq Khan brands Donald Trump a ‘bully’ who is ‘obsessed’ with him
The comments come after the wife of one of Trump’s aide tweeted a map of Greenland covered in the colours of the US flag.
Katie Miller, wife of Stephen Miller, shared the image with the word “SOON.”
Ever since he returned to office last year, Trump has spoken of his desire to take control of Greenland, claiming this is vital for the US’s security.
The possibility of the US taking control of Greenland has seemed to increase in recent days following the nation’s military operation in Venezuela, in which president Nicolas Maduro was captured.
In a statement posted on the Danish government’s website on Sunday, Frederiksen said she was addressing the US “very directly.”
She reminded Trump and his administration that Denmark, and therefore Greenland, was a NATO member covered by the alliance’s security guarantee.
Frederiksen also pointed out that the US already has access to Greenland through a defence agreement with Denmark and that Denmark had increased its investment in security in the region.
“I would therefore strongly urge the United States to stop the threats against a historically close ally and against another country and another people who have very clearly said that they are not for sale,” she said.
The words seemed to go over Trump’s head though, as he later said on Air Force One that the US “need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”
In December, Trump appointed a special envoy to Greenland in a move that sparked anger from Denmark.
Greenland is a largely self-governing, autonomous territory that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Although most of its 57,000 population want independence from the Scandinavian country at some point, there is also near-universal opposition to the US taking control of the territory.