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Let's cross live to Greenland now, where we have US correspondent for GB News, Steve Edgington
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who has been out and about all day. Steve, good to see you're indoors, because when I
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caught you on, I think it was Martin Daubney's show, you were braving the elements outside. What's the latest from Greenland
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Yeah, so you saw President Trump there on Air Force One discussing this outline of a
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deal that's still being negotiated and will be negotiated over the coming weeks. He announced
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on Truth Social that some kind of arrangement had been made between him and the Secretary
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General of NATO, Mark Rutter, discussing potentially taking over U.S. military bases in
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Greenland with sovereignty there, as Britain has in Cyprus. Now, Trump was asked on the plane
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by lots of journalists, is that true? Will the U.S. have sovereignty over parts of Greenland
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And he was very vague about that. I suspect that that hasn't been agreed. Mark Rutter
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the Secretary General of NATO, has denied that sovereignty even came up in these discussions
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and the Prime Minister of Greenland has said that this is a red line for her and for her nation
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Greenland and Denmark will never give up any sovereignty to the United States
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Now, the question is, does that really matter? Trump was talking on Air Force One, saying that the US will have freedom of access across Greenland
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to set up military bases. He talked about the Golden Dome. This is the missile defence system that America wants to plan and sort of build in Greenland
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to prevent intercontinental ballistic missiles being flown over the Arctic from places like China and Russia in the future Greenland is very important for that because even if a missile is coming from China it will actually most likely go through the Arctic and go through Greenland
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So Greenland holds a hugely strategic, important role for the United States
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and President Trump isn't the first president of America to talk about this kind of strategic
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and military importance of Greenland. Over the last few decades, even going back to the Second
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World War, the U.S. has had a military presence on Greenland, and various U.S. presidents have
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talked about even purchasing Greenland in the past. So this is a continuation of US foreign policy
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but in a way, Trump has obviously been more bombastic. He was threatening Europe with lots
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of tariffs because they sent a small delegation to Greenland, military delegation. And I think
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there was some confusion between Trump and potentially what the European nations, including
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Britain, were trying to do with sending that military delegation to Greenland to look into
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what the kind of defences are in Greenland, potentially against an attack from Russia or
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China. So I think there has been a kind of conclusion to all of that. Obviously, Trump has
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backed down when it comes to the threats of tariffs and says that he's negotiating a deal
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And I think here in Greenland, people feel massively relieved because they were seriously
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worried about a military invasion. You have people here at any sighting. I think I heard a plane
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earlier come over and nuke the capital of Greenland and lots of Greenlanders were going, you know, is that a military plane? Is America coming to invade? People are looking at the boats
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and the ships around the capital and are concerned, you know, are these military ships
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People are taking these threats really seriously. And actually ministers here in Greenland were urging people only a couple of days ago to prepare for invasion to have five days worth of food and gas and other supplies in case of an emergency
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So people don't take this rhetoric lightly. They really were concerned. And I think there's a real sense of relief here in Greenland today
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that Donald Trump will not be using the military to invade. I think, as you say, Ben, that was almost certainly just rhetoric
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and, you know, bluster, negotiating tactic from Donald Trump. He says that he's achieved lots of new fantastic things for the United States in this deal, particularly when it comes to the Golden Dome, when it comes to U.S. access to military sites
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So I think Donald Trump will come away from this happy, whereas the Greenlanders, I think, as I say, there's a big sense of relief
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And the prime minister of Greenland today actually gave a press conference to lots of journalists
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And he said that we choose Greenland, we choose Denmark, we choose the European Union and we choose NATO
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and he was really trying to refute Donald Trump. He was incredibly angry, I think
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That was the tone of the press conference against the US president. And he told journalists he has no idea what's been negotiated
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between Donald Trump and Mark Rutter. He wasn't involved in those negotiations at all
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It seems the prime minister of Denmark also wasn't involved. And what viewers have to remember is Greenland is a territory owned by Denmark
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It has semi-autonomous status. So it has a kind of prime minister, it has some elected representatives, but it's actually a Danish territory and has been since the 1950s
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Well you could actually argue going back to the 18th century So lots of Greenlanders here they not only want independence from the United States I actually spoken to a lot of people who want independence from Denmark So it been a fascinating few days here in Greenland
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Yeah, Steve, and actually, before I let you go, your tweet, sorry, your post earlier on X
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which said, I'll read it, it was great, it's gone semi-viral. I mean, 200,000 views, 20,000 likes on X
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You said the Greenland paradox is interesting. If the US sent 100,000 American immigrants here, then voted in an American prime minister and voted to be part of America, liberals would cry foul
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Yet this is exactly what's happening to Europe via mass African slash Asian migration
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You seem to have sort of hit a note there because it's been so popular, Stephen
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Just tell us, just elaborate on that very slightly before you go. Yeah, it's fascinating. Greenland has a population of 56,000 people
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Now, if the United States instigated, let's say, even 100,000 people, immigrants coming from America to Greenland, that would massively change the demographics of Greenland, change the culture of Greenland, change the political situation in Greenland
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Imagine if those American immigrants then voted for a pro-American prime minister
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Imagine if they then had a referendum that they wanted to join America as a country
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The liberals around the world in the West and in America would be up in arms
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They would say this is an attack on Greenlandic culture. This is an attack on the Inuits
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And yet this is exactly what's happening across the West, across America and across Europe
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Yeah, Steve, great stuff. Thanks very much. We'll catch up with you in the coming days, no doubt
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That's Steve Edgington, GB News U.S. correspondent in Greenland
