Greenland must decide its own future, minister tells LBC as Trump orders top generals to 'draw up invasion plan'
Heidi Alexander refused to say if a US invasion of Greenland would spell the end of NATO
The future of Greenland must be decided by its own people, the transport secretary has told LBC amid reports Donald Trump has ordered invasion plans to be drawn up.
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According to reports, President Trump, emboldened by the US’ recent operation in Venezuela and pushed by advisor Stephen Miller, wants to quickly seize the island before Russia or China does the same.
Speaking to LBC’s Lewis Goodall, Heidi Alexander said Greenland must decide its own future, but cautioned against overreacting to comments made by the US President.
“So the Prime Minister has been pretty unequivocal about this in the last week that Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Denmark is a European partner to us and a long-standing ally in NATO and the future of Greenland is for Greenlanders and Danes to determine and to decide,” she said.
Despite this support for Greenlanders, Ms Alexander refused be drawn on whether a US invasion of Greenland would spell the end of NATO.
“I think we've all got accustomed, haven't we, to Donald Trump communicating about geopolitics in a certain way this week,” she added.
“We have also seen the White House say that his instinct is always diplomacy first.
“We know that Marco Rubio is going to Copenhagen this week.”
Despite concerns over US action in Greenland, the Transport Secretary agreed with White House concerns over Russian activity in the Arctic Circle.
“That is a part of the world that is becoming more contested from a geopolitical point of view.
“We saw on Wednesday of this week, didn't we, the interception of the vessel in international waters off the coast of Iceland, where the UK assisted the US to intercept one of the vessels, which is part of the shadow fleet which has been used to transport illegitimate oil around the globe.
“I think that we agree about the strategic importance of the Arctic Circle and providing effective deterrence to Russia and Putin.
“It's why back in December we signed a defence agreement with Norway to jointly operate 20 warfare frigates.”
The minister rejected suggestions the Government is failing to take President Trump’s threats seriously.
“We take what the leaders of our allies in NATO say seriously all the time and we're standing shoulder to shoulder.”
Ms Alexander once again pointed to the President’s unorthodox approach to geopolitics. “What I'm saying is I think that we achieve more when we work together as NATO allies and that's all NATO allies.”
Reacting to reports that the President is considering an invasion of Greenland, she branded any military intervention “wrong.”
Sources told the Mail on Sunday the President has asked the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) to draw up an invasion plan - but is being advised against military action by some of his top advisors.
A source told the outlet: “They have tried to distract Trump by talking about less controversial measures, such as intercepting Russian 'ghost' ships - a clandestine network of hundreds of vessels operated by Moscow to evade Western sanctions - or launching a strike on Iran.”
Another source described a US invasion of Greenland as the “worst-case scenario” and said it would cause the “destruction of NATO from the inside.”
It added: “Some European officials suspect this is the real aim of the hardline MAGA faction around Trump.
“Since Congress would not allow Trump to exit NATO, occupying Greenland could force the Europeans to abandon NATO. If Trump wants to end NATO, this might be the most convenient way to do it.”
Speaking to oil bosses in the White House on Friday, the President said: "If we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland and we're not going to have Russia or China as a neighbour."
He added: "So we’re going to be doing something with Greenland, either the nice way or the more difficult way."
US officials previously warned that they could use "military means" to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, hit back, warning any US military action against Greenland would spell the end of the NATO alliance, of which her country is a member.
But responding on Friday, President Trump said: "If it weren't for me, you wouldn’t have a Nato right now.
"But we're not going to allow Russia or China to occupy Greenland, and that’s what’s going to happen if we don't."