Donald Trump Jr is planning to visit Greenland, two weeks after his father repeated his desire for the US to take control of the autonomous Danish territory.
The US president-elect’s son plans to record video footage for a podcast during the one-day private visit, US media report.
Donald Trump reignited controversy in December when he said “ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity” for US national security.
He had previously expressed an interest in buying the Arctic island during his first term as president. Trump was rebuffed by Greenland’s leaders on both occasions.
“We are not for sale and we will not be for sale,” the island’s Prime Minister, Mute Egede, said in December. “Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland.”
President-elect Trump confirmed his son’s trip on his Truth Social social media platform on Monday.
He said Don Jr and “various representatives” would travel to Greenland “to visit some of the most magnificent areas and sights”.
Trump added that Greenland and its people “will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our nation”.
“We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside world,” he said. “Make Greenland great again!”
The president-elect’s post also included a video featuring an unnamed Greenlander- wearing a red Make America Great Again hat – telling Trump to buy Greenland and free it from “being colonised” by Denmark.
The identity of the man in the clip is unclear.
Greenland lies on the shortest route from North America to Europe, making it strategically important for the US. It is also home to a large American space facility.
The president-elect’s eldest son played a key role during the 2024 US election campaign, frequently appearing at rallies and in the media.
But he will not be travelling to Greenland on behalf of his father’s incoming administration, according to the Danish foreign ministry.
“We have noted the planned visit of Donald Trump Jr to Greenland. As it is not an official American visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark has no further comment to the visit,” the ministry told BBC News.
Greenland profileHours after President-elect Trump’s latest intervention, the Danish government announced a huge boost in defence spending for Greenland. Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen described the announcement’s timing as an “irony of fate”.
On Monday Denmark’s King Frederik X changed the royal coat of arms to more prominently feature representations of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Some have seen this as a rebuke to Trump, but it could also prove controversial with Greenland’s separatist movement.
King Frederik used his New Year’s address to say the Kingdom of Denmark was united “all the way to Greenland”, adding “we belong together”.
But Greenland’s prime minister used his own New Year’s speech to push for independence from Denmark, saying the island must break free from “the shackles of colonialism”.
Trump is not the first US president to suggest buying Greenland. The idea was first mooted by the country’s 17th president, Andrew Johnson, during the 1860s.
Separately in recent weeks, Trump has threatened to reassert control over the Panama Canal, one of the world’s most important waterways. He has accused Panama of charging excessive fees for access to it.
Panama’s president responded by saying “every square metre” of the canal and surrounding area belonged to his country.
