'Greenland is ours': PM Múte Bourup Egede declares as Donald Trump vows to acquire territory

With United States President Donald Trump stated the US will acquire the Greenland “one way or another” even though his administration supports the Arctic island’s right of self-determination, Greenland's PM Múte Bourup Egede declared Wednesday that “Greenland is ours” and cannot be taken or bought in, reported AP.

Stating that the island’s citizens are neither American nor Danish because they are Greenlandic, PM Egede wrote in a post on Facebook on Wednesday that the US needs to understand this and added the future of Greenland will be decided by its people.

Egede's post arrived after Trump made a direct appeal to Greenlanders in a speech to Congress on Tuesday. This is when the islanders head to the polls for parliamentary elections.

“We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America," Trump said. “We will keep you safe. We will make you rich. And together we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before."

However, Trump also said his administration was “working with everybody involved to try to get it,” referring to his wishes to acquire Greenland from Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally.

“We need it really for international world security. And I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” Trump said.

What Denmark said?

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, while reacting to Trump's speech, said on Wednesday that he did not think Greenlanders wanted to separate from Denmark in order to instead become “an integrated part of America.”

Løkke sought to strike an optimistic tone, saying he believed that Trump's reference to respecting Greenlanders' right to self-determination was “the most important part of that speech.”

“I’m very optimistic about what will be a Greenlandic decision about this. They want to loosen their ties to Denmark, we’re working on that, to have a more equal relationship,” the minister said during a trip to Finland, adding it was important that next week’s parliamentary elections are free and fair “without any kind of international intervention.”

Greenlanders will head to the polls Tuesday. Trump's recent comments about taking over the island have ignited unprecedented interest in full independence from Denmark, which has become a key issue during campaign season.

With agency inputs.