MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Donald Trump Jr. is back in the U.S. today after flying to Greenland yesterday. He brought this message from his father, the president-elect.
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DONALD TRUMP JR: He says hello (laughter). We were talking to him yesterday. So he says hello to everyone in Greenland.
MARTIN: What you heard there was Donald Trump Jr.'s arrival in the capital, Nuuk, as captured by the Greenlandic broadcaster KNR. It was classified as a private trip, but his father has been increasingly vocal, one might say even aggressive, about the U.S. buying Greenland. Here's the president-elect also on Tuesday when he was asked if he'd rule out using military or economic coercion to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal.
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DONALD TRUMP: No, I can't assure you on either of those two, but I can say this - we need them for economic security.
MARTIN: We wanted to get a Greenlandic perspective on this, so we've called Kuno Fencker. He is a member of Greenland's parliament and a member of the center-right party that favors independence from Denmark. Good morning. Thank you for joining us.
KUNO FENCKER: Yeah, good morning, and thank you too.
MARTIN: So this issue of President Trump's interest in Greenland came up during his first term in office. I don't know that people took it that seriously, but he seems to be kind of serious now. What do you make of it?
FENCKER: I think he's always been serious. And as a politician, he - and a businessman, he always speaks frankly and honestly. So I must say that the remarks that he's saying about Greenland are quite honest. And depending on how you interpret them, we can fully understand what he's saying, and it's about the security of the American continent and the Arctic and even our allies. And there's a big need in regards to bigger securitization and dual-use equipment here in Greenland. So I can fully understand him, and he's mentioning also Chinese vessels, Russian vessels maybe that could be...
MARTIN: Can I just briefly interrupt? Is it your view that Denmark - the government of Denmark is not taking the security concerns seriously enough?
FENCKER: Yeah, exactly. They haven't taken them seriously enough, and I also commented on that quite frankly a couple of days ago. It will be in the media soon. And that is about search and rescue, that is inspection of fishing vessels and other vessels coming to our waters here in Greenland. It's also surveillance of Greenland. It's about the security and for the people and getting some dual-use equipment to Greenland. It's quite urgent.
MARTIN: So local media reports said that there were some people at the airport in Nuuk wearing red MAGA hats. Wasn't there, so I don't know if you know that to be true, too, but is there support among Greenlanders for some sort of closer ties to the U.S.?
FENCKER: Sure, we are willing to work in a honorable manner with our allies and near neighbors, the U.S., Canada, and even Denmark as such.
MARTIN: To the question of whether the U.S. could buy Greenland, is that an option?
FENCKER: It's not an option, but, you know, some people say that Denmark owns us, and it's in a way, in a sense true because Denmark has the sovereignty of Greenland because they annexed us in 1953, and we want - don't want to repeat that again ever. So the future of Greenland is decided by the Greenlandic people.
MARTIN: That is Kuno Fencker. He is a member of Greenland's parliament from the Siumut party. Mr. Fencker, thank you so much for joining us.
FENCKER: Thank you, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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