Greenland Prime Minister: 'we Don't Want To Be Americans'

Greenland’s prime minister weighed in on President-elect Trump's proposal to acquire the island territory, arguing that the nation intends to keep working toward independence from Denmark.

“We don't want to be Danes," Múte Egede told Fox News host Bret Baier in an interview Thursday. "We don't even want to be Americans. We want to be Greenlanders."

Trump's recent swipes at the country have not landed well with citizens or foreign leaders.

“We will always be a part of NATO. We will always be a strong partner for the U.S.," Egede continued. "We are close neighbors. We have been incorporated in the last 80 years. And I think the future has a lot to offer, to cooperate with."

“But we want to also be clear, we don't want to be Americans," he said. "We don't want to be a part of U.S., but we want a strong cooperation together with U.S.”

The prime minister added that maintaining a U.S. military presence in the region is part of that cooperation.

“It's a really important military base, especially for all of us in the North American continent, and especially for your national security, and your national security is our security,” he told Baier, but clarifying that the Arctic region operates a little differently.

“We are open to discuss ... how to defend our country, your country, all the Arctic, all the North American countries and all the Western Alliances,” Egede said.

His comments comes just days after the president-elect spoke via phone with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. In the call, Frederiksen said the choice would ultimately be up to Greenland.

Trump in recent days has argued that owning the island “is an absolute necessity," and has not shot down the idea of using military action to acquire it. The expansion rhetoric, including the president-elect's suggestion that the U.S. annex Canada and the Panama Canal, has sparked a debate on how seriously to take the incoming president.