Greenland's prime minister on Wednesday hit back at President Donald Trump's pledge to take the Arctic territory "one way or the other", insisting that islanders did not see their future with the United States or even Denmark.
Mute Egede rejected Trump's expansionist ambitions to annex the sparsely populated but mineral-rich and strategically placed island, in a partisan address to the US Congress in Washington on Tuesday.
"We don't want to be Americans, or Danes either. We are Greenlanders. The Americans and their leader must understand that," Egede wrote in a Facebook post.
"We are not for sale and can't just be taken. Our future is decided by us in Greenland," he said, six days before the island's legislative elections where the longstanding question of independence tops the agenda.
Trump offered only passing lines on world affairs in his speech, focusing on his domestic goals like rounding up undocumented immigrants and slashing government spending.
But he repeated his aspirations to take Greenland and claimed an initial victory on retaking control of the Panama Canal.
Panama president says Trump 'lying'
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Wednesday accused his US counterpart Donald Trump of "lying" about Washington taking back the Panama Canal.
"Once again, President Trump is lying. The Panama Canal is not in the process of recovery," Mulino wrote on X.
"I reject, on behalf of Panama and all Panamanians, this new affront to the truth and to our dignity as a nation," Mulino added, after Trump said that his administration had started to take back the vital waterway.
"To further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we've already started doing it," Trump said in a speech to Congress Tuesday. "We're taking it back."
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ