Why UK has ‘first dibs’ over Greenland – and Trump would have to ask Keir Starmer’s permission before seizing ice island
Why UK has ‘first dibs’ over Greenland – and Trump would have to ask Keir Starmer’s permission before seizing ice island
Share:
BRITAIN would have first refusal to buy Greenland and potentially scupper Donald Trump's plot to acquire the nation. Only a week into his second term, Trump has sent Denmark into "crisis mode" by insisting the US will take Greenland over. The president wants to put the Danish territory under US control - vowing to do so to protect global "national security and freedom".
![[Donald Trump reviewing documents at his desk in the Oval Office.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/donald-trump-accuses-wind-turbines-966690202_d3941b.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
But a pact made more than a century ago could be a major roadblock to Trump's land grab. Determined Trump would have to go through the UK first - and get Sir Keir Starmer's approval. Tom Høyem, who was Copenhagen's last permanent representative in the Arctic territory, pointed out an agreement signed back in 1917.
![[Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer leaving 10 Downing Street.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/prime-minister-sir-keir-starmer-965759672.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The undertaking - rubber-stamped after America first made a tentative attempt to acquire the land - is still valid. Høyem told The Sunday Times: "If Trump tried to buy Greenland, he would have to ask London first. "The United Kingdom demanded in 1917 that if Greenland were to be sold then the UK should have the first right to buy it.".
![[Illustration of Arctic trade routes highlighting Greenland's strategic location, with images of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image_4129ca.png?strip=all&w=620)
The agreement was made because Canada was a British dominion at the time and lies just a few miles from Greenland. It comes as the Danes were left in "crisis mode" after an explosive 45-minute phone call between Trump and Denmark's Prime Minister. Trump has been piling the pressure on Mette Frederiksen after first floating takeover plans before his second term in The White House.
![[Colorful houses on a rocky hillside overlooking icebergs in Ilulissat, Greenland.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/view-houses-ilulissat-kangerlua-glacier-803208109.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
