The huge package is announced after the president-elect said US ownership of Greenland was a "necessity".
Trump thinks European countries should spend more on defense. And most have – under President Joe Biden.
One European country in particular is spending more to defend itself against a crazed imperialist – Donald Trump.
The Danish government has announced a huge boost in defence spending for Greenland, hours after US President-elect Donald Trump repeated his desire to purchase the Arctic territory. Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the package was a "double digit billion amount" in krone, or at least $1.5bn (£1.2bn). He described the timing of the announcement as an "irony of fate". On Monday Trump said ownership and control of the huge island was an "absolute necessity" for the US. Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, is home to a large US space facility and is strategically important for the US, lying on its shortest route to Europe. It has major mineral and oil reserves. Poulsen said the package would allow for the purchase of two new inspection ships, two new long-range drones and two extra dog sled teams. It would also include funding for increased staffing at Arctic Command in the capital Nuuk and an upgrade for one of Greenland's three main civilian airports to handle F-35 supersonic fighter aircraft. "We have not invested enough in the Arctic for many years, now we are planning a stronger presence," he said. The defence minister did not give an exact figure for the package, but Danish media estimated it would be around 12-15bn krone. The announcement came a day after Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social: "For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity." Greenland's Prime Minister Mute Egede responded to Trump's comments, saying "we are not for sale". [ ... ] Trump's original suggestion in 2019 that the US acquire Greenland, which is the world's largest island, led to a similarly sharp rebuke from leaders there. At the time Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederickson described the idea as "absurd", leading Trump to cancel a state trip to the country.
Perhaps Greenland's flag would be a good one to wave to show opposition to Trump.
