Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has been appointed as the new U.S. Special Envoy to Greenland, reigniting Danish and Greenlandic alarm over Washington's plan for the Arctic island. President Trump has said several times over the years that Greenland should become part of the United States, citing security reasons and an interest in the island s mineral resources. Denmark has been angry from the start, running to the European Union and NATO to complain.
00:00:00.000OK, so this just happened today in the United States and Europe is already losing it.
00:00:05.460And Governor Landry also responding on social media, saying thank you, President Trump.
00:00:11.380It's an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the U.S.
00:00:17.620All right, let's be real. It's no secret that President Trump has been keeping a close eye on Greenland for a while.
00:00:23.640He said it openly multiple times. Now, Greenland is currently part of Denmark and the whole European Union thing.
00:00:29.460But Trump has made it clear that the United States is not going to let China or Russia control the Arctic.
00:00:35.060We're talking about shipping lanes, military reach. That island sits right in the middle of all of that.
00:00:40.540You even had that visit from Trump Jr. and the late Charlie Kirk flying into Greenland to speak directly with the locals.
00:00:47.560And a lot of them were surprisingly open to the idea of joining the most powerful nation on Earth.
00:00:52.900Of course, Denmark has been angry from the start. They've been running to the European Union and NATO to complain.
00:00:58.520But let's be honest, if America decides that that island is strategically necessary, there ain't a whole lot Europe or NATO can do about it.
00:01:06.840We have some news that we want to get to right now, and that takes us to Louisiana.
00:01:12.240This is a live look right here as we're taking a live look from Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
00:01:18.400as President Trump has named Louisiana Governor Landry as Greenland's special envoy, making...
00:01:37.920Like, does he have any sort of relation to Greenland or anything like that?
00:01:42.980You think they pick the governor of Alaska or something like that, but I digress.
00:01:47.800That announcement Sunday, reigniting Danish and Greenlandic alarm over Washington's plan for the Arctic island.
00:01:56.420Now, President Trump has said several times over the years that Greenland, which is a Danish territory,
00:02:01.900is now largely self-governing but should become part of the U.S.,
00:02:07.700citing security reasons and an interest in the island's mineral resources.
00:02:13.580Governor Landry has praised that idea, and we did want to share a little bit more with you
00:02:19.000as President Trump has announced that Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry will be the special envoy to Greenland.
00:02:26.520A little bit more information right here as we continue to follow this.
00:02:31.780The Danish foreign minister now responding today, saying that he would summon the U.S. ambassador to Copenhagen,
00:02:39.040adding that he had been particularly upset by Governor Landry's support of President Trump's aim of making Greenland part of the United States.
00:06:10.900Look, if the United States wants Greenland, I don't see who can stop them.
00:06:16.540And it'd actually be better for Greenland.
00:06:18.120They'd actually have a real defense because right now Russia is just expanding and expanding in the north.
00:06:26.360And more importantly, China wants to expand in the north.
00:06:31.620Well, yes, the foreign minister of Denmark came out first and said that these remarks were completely unacceptable and that he was deeply displeased with them.
00:06:41.560Now, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has also responded, saying the U.S. is putting Denmark in a difficult position, but that Denmark will not deviate from its democratic values.
00:06:52.260She and the Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen have put out a joint statement saying that land borders and sovereignty are not something that can be altered by another country.
00:07:03.560It says you cannot simply take over another nation.
00:07:37.220So I don't know what she's talking about.
00:07:39.760So they're keeping calm, but clearly expressing their displeasure with the U.S. move.
00:07:44.440I had a chance to ask the European Commission at its last daily briefing of the year whether they wanted to respond.
00:07:50.860And it was basically a very dry one-sentence statement saying that the territorial inviolability of the Kingdom of Denmark, which of course does include Greenland, is of essential value to the European Union.
00:08:02.600So people trying to walk a fine line here between expressing how unhappy they are with this move, but also keeping calm.
00:09:05.680So we'll see how much reaction these Landry remarks have.
00:09:09.220We should point out, though, that the Danish intelligence service never let it drop completely.
00:09:14.660They listed the U.S. as a potential national security threat this year for the first time here.
00:09:19.040The bottom line here is that the United States has been telling NATO and the European allies to fulfill their responsibilities when it comes to defense.
00:09:27.920And the majority, the vast majority of these countries have been coming up short when it comes to defense.
00:09:35.940They have not been meeting their obligations when it comes to funding defense for NATO.
00:09:40.680As the ice continues to melt in the Arctic, countries like Canada and territories like Greenland are becoming increasingly important,
00:09:50.300especially when you have China with icebreakers trying to patrol the waters of the Arctic.
00:09:56.860And you have an ever-expanding Russian army in Siberia and the Arctic.