Greenlanders reject Donald Trump, 85% do not want to be part of US, reveals new poll

An opinion poll revealed on Tuesday that an overwhelming majority — 85 percent — of Greenlanders do not wish their Arctic island to become a part of the US.

Danish daily Berlingske cited a survey by pollster Verian that showed that only 6 percent of Greenlanders are in favour of becoming part of the US, while 9 percent remain undecided.

Greenland is a semi-autonomous Danish territory. But US President Donald Trump said earlier this month that Greenland was vital to the US' security and Denmark should give up control of the strategically important island.

Trump did not rule out using military or economic power to achieve his goal.

However, Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that there was no military threat to either Greenland or Denmark despite Trump's threats to take over the Danish autonomous territory.

"I have no reason to believe that there is a military threat to Greenland or Denmark," Frederiksen was quoted by news agency AFP as saying.

Frederiksen's statement came after a day of meeting European leaders to gather support following Trump's claim at the weekend that the United States would "get Greenland".

Denmark said on Monday it would spend 14.6 billion crowns ($2.04 billion) on boosting its military presence in the Arctic, Reuters reported.

Greenland - with a land mass larger than Mexico and a population of 57,000 — was granted broad self-governing autonomy in 2009, including the right to declare independence from Denmark through a referendum.

Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede, who has stepped up a push for independence, has repeatedly said the island is not for sale and that it is up to its people to decide their future.

The US military has a permanent presence at the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a strategic location for its ballistic missile early-warning system, as the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the island.