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Business and personal 45th and 47th President of the United States Incumbent Tenure
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Donald Trump, the current president of the United States has stated in the lead-up to his second inauguration proposed plans and ideas that would expand the United States' political influence and territory. [1] The last territory acquired by the United States came in 1947 with the Mariana, Caroline and Marshall Islands.
Trump has said he will impose a 25% tariff on all goods from Canada in an effort for the Canadian government to stop what in his view is an illegal migration crisis and drug crisis on the Canada-United States border. [2] Canadian officials have responded by threatening the United States with retaliatory tariffs, as well as shutting down the flow of Canadian energy into the Northern United States. [3] This has led to Trump taunting Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau with joke offers for Canada to join the Union, and Trump has referred to Trudeau as the 'Governor of the Great State of Canada'. [4]
In December 2024, Trump stated a further proposal for the United States to purchase Greenland from Denmark, describing ownership and control of the island as "an absolute necessity" for national security purposes. This builds upon a prior offer from Trump to buy Greenland during his first term, which the Danish Realm refused, causing him to cancel his August 2019 visit to Denmark. [5] On January 7, 2025, Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. visted Greenland's capital city Nuuk alongside Charlie Kirk to hand out MAGA hats. [6] At a press conference the following day, Trump refused to rule out military or economic force order to take over Greenland or the Panama Canal. [7] However, he did rule out military force in taking over Canada. [7] On January 14, the Trump-affiliated Nelk Boys also visted Nuuk, handing out dollar bills to locals. [8] On January 16, the CEOs of major Danish companies Novo Nordisk, Vestas and Carlsberg among others were assembled for a crisis meeting in the Ministry of State to discuss the situation. [9] [10] On the subsequent day, former chief executive Friis Arne Petersen in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the situation as "historically unheard of", while Noa Redington, special adviser to former prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, compared the international pressure on Denmark that during the 2005 Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. [11] Political commentator Henrik Qvortrup stated on the 17th that a mention of Greenland during Trump's inaugural address on January 20 would confirm Trump's seriousness, definitely making the situation the biggest international crisis for Denmark since World War II. [12]
In 2024, Trump demanded that Panama return control of the Panama Canal to the United States due to 'excessive rates' being charged for American passage. [13] If the United States were to take control of the Panama Canal, it would mark the first time the United States controlled Panamanian territory since the United States invasion of Panama. [14]
Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the larger of two autonomous territories within the kingdom, the other being the Faroe Islands; the citizens of both territories are full citizens of Denmark. As Greenland is one of the Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union, citizens of Greenland are European Union citizens. The capital and largest city of Greenland is Nuuk. Greenland lies between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It is the world's largest island, and is the location of the northernmost point of land in the world—Kaffeklubben Island off the northern coast is the world's northernmost undisputed point of land; Cape Morris Jesup on the mainland was thought to be so until the 1960s. Economically, Greenland is heavily reliant on aid from Denmark, amounting to near half of the territory's total public revenue.
The defence of Greenland is the responsibility of the Kingdom of Denmark; the government of Greenland does not have control of Greenland's military or foreign affairs. In the history of Greenland there have been many changes of presence regarding who is in charge of the security of Greenlandic people and its land.
Being part of the Kingdom of Denmark, the foreign relations of Greenland are handled in cooperation between the government of Denmark and the government of Greenland.
Nuuk is the capital of and most populous city in Greenland, an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the territory's largest cultural and economic center. Nuuk is also the seat of government for the Sermersooq municipality. In January 2024, it had a population of 19,872, – more than a third of the territory's population – making it one of the smallest capital cities in the world by population. Nuuk is considered a modernized city.
From the independence of the United States until today, various movements within Canada have campaigned in favor of U.S. annexation of parts of or all of Canada. Historical studies have focused on numerous small-scale movements which are helpful in comparisons of Canadian and American politics.
Air Greenland A/S, also known as Greenlandair, is the flag carrier of Greenland, owned by the Greenlandic Government. It operates a fleet of 28 aircraft, including a single Airbus A330-800 airliner used for transatlantic and charter flights, 9 fixed-wing aircraft primarily serving the domestic network, and 18 helicopters feeding passengers from the smaller communities into the domestic airport network. Flights to heliports in the remote settlements are operated on contract with the government of Greenland. Its domestic and international hub is at Nuuk Airport.
Nuuk Airport is an international airport serving Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. The airport is the hub and technical base for Air Greenland, the flag carrier airline of Greenland, linking the capital with almost all towns in the country and international destinations. International routes are also provided by Icelandair on a year-round basis as well as SAS and United Airlines on a seasonal basis. Most international journeys to or from Greenland pass through this airport.
Kangerlussuaq Airport is an airport in Kangerlussuaq, a settlement in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Alongside Nuuk Airport and Narsarsuaq Airport, it is one of only three civilian airports in Greenland large enough to handle large aircraft.
The Danish Realm, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply Denmark, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united by the Constitutional Act, which applies to the entire territory. It consists of metropolitan Denmark—the kingdom's territory in continental Europe and sometimes called "Denmark proper" —and the realm's two autonomous regions: the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. The relationship between the three parts of the Kingdom is known as Rigsfællesskabet.
Expansionism refers to states obtaining greater territory through military empire-building or colonialism.
Diplomatic relations between Denmark and the United States of America began in 1783. Both countries are members of the Arctic Council, OECD, OSCE, NATO and the United Nations.
The Twenty-Ninth Canadian Ministry is the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, that began governing Canada shortly before the opening of the 42nd Parliament. The original members were sworn in during a ceremony held at Rideau Hall on November 4, 2015. Those who were not already members of the privy council were sworn into it in the same ceremony. The Cabinet currently consists of 35 members including Trudeau, with 17 women and 18 men. When the ministry was first sworn in, with 15 men and 15 women, it became the first gender-balanced cabinet in Canadian history.
Denmark was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with the song "Sku' du spørg' fra no'en?", composed by Søren Bundgaard, with lyrics by Keld Heick, and performed by Hot Eyes. The Danish participating broadcaster, Danmarks Radio (DR), organised the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 1985 in order to select its entry for the contest. This was the second consecutive Eurovision appearance for the duo.
Greenlandic independence is a political ambition of some political parties, advocacy groups, and individuals of Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, to become an independent sovereign state.
Lars Hedegaard is a Danish author, historian, editor, journalist and critic of Islam. He established the International Free Press Society in 2009, an extension of the Danish Free Press Society founded in 2004, of which he served as chairman until 2014. Hedegaard was the subject of an assassination attempt in 2013, after which he has lived under police protection.
The Joint Arctic Command is a direct Level II authority in the Danish Defence. Joint Arctic Command's primary mission in peacetime is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The command also handles tasks such as fisheries inspection, search and rescue (SAR), patient transport and other tasks that support the civil society. In short, the Joint Arctic Command handles military tasks, coast guard duties and disaster response - all in one organisation.
Since the 19th century, the United States has considered, and made, several attempts to purchase the island of Greenland from Denmark, as it did with the Danish West Indies in 1917. Internal discussions within the United States government about acquiring Greenland notably occurred in 1867, 1910, 1946, 1955, 2019 and 2025 and acquisition has been advocated by American secretaries of state William H. Seward and James F. Byrnes, privately by vice president Nelson Rockefeller, and publicly by president Donald Trump, among others. After World War II, the United States secretly offered to buy Greenland; public discussion of purchasing the island occurred during Trump's first term in 2019 and again after Trump's 2024 reelection.
The spiral case is an ongoing investigation into a birth control campaign by the Danish government in Greenland which occurred primarily during the 1960s and 1970s. Danish doctors placed intrauterine devices in thousands of Greenlandic Inuit girls and women, often without consent and under the direction of government officials. The program was created to prevent unplanned or unwanted pregnancies, lower costs, and control Greenland's birth rate. Several cases occurred after the responsibility of the health care system was transferred to the Greenland government in 1991.
The second and current tenure of Donald Trump as the president of the United States began on January 20, 2025, when he was inaugurated as the 47th president. Trump, who previously served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021, took office following his victory over Democratic incumbent vice president Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. He is the second president in U.S. history to serve nonconsecutive terms after Grover Cleveland in 1893 and is the oldest individual to assume the presidency. Following his victories in the 2016 and 2024 elections, he is not eligible for a third term according to the 22nd Amendment.
