US President Donald Trump appoints the governor of the southern state of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, as special envoy to Greenland, which officially belongs to Denmark.
December 22, 2025, 06:10Dec 22, 2025, 06:14
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he understands how important the island in the North Atlantic is for US security. Landry will work hard for the interests and security of the USA as well as for the “survival of our allies” and the entire world, the Republican further wrote about his party colleague.
Jeff Landry is the new US special envoy to Greenland.Image: keystone
Since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly declared disputed ownership claims to Greenland, citing national security reasons. The debate about this had died down somewhat recently.
Greenland is four-fifths covered with ice and is six times the size of Germany, but has just under 57,000 inhabitants. The island is largely autonomous, but officially belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark.
The US government is probably hoping for a direct line to the leadership in Greenland
Danish media recently reported that the US government is trying to establish direct contacts with the Greenland government. However, political practice in the Kingdom of Denmark is that both Danish and Greenlandic representatives must be present at discussions when it comes to foreign, security or defense issues that affect Greenland. Greenland is the largest island in the world in terms of area.
Landry described it on Platform X as an honor to be able to help “make Greenland part of the USA.” He has been Governor of Louisiana since the beginning of 2024. It is unclear why Trump wants to appoint him as a special envoy. Geographically closer to Greenland, for example, would be the states in the northeast of the USA, but the Democrats tend to dominate politically there. From Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, it is around 4,600 kilometers as the crow flies to Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.
Louisiana was once purchased by the USA
In 1803, the USA bought a huge area called Louisiana, which includes the current US state, from France. Trump had already spoken during his first term in office (2017-2021) of wanting to buy Greenland for the USA. Denmark and the autonomous government of Greenland reject these efforts.
Previous presidents appointed special envoys primarily for difficult negotiations and trouble spots. Relations with allies, such as the NATO partner state Denmark, were traditionally maintained by a US ambassador. (sda/dpa)