Trump envoy not welcome at Greenland dog sled race – organizers

Jeff Landry, who has openly backed making the territory part of the US, claimed he received an invitation to the event

The organizers of Greenland’s premier dog sled race have said the presence of US President Donald Trump’s envoy Jeff Landry at the event would be “wholly inappropriate,” and launched a probe into his alleged invitation. Landry has openly backed Trump’s push to incorporate the Arctic island into the US.

Tensions over Trump’s Greenland claims have escalated in recent weeks as he has grown increasingly insistent in calling the territory vital to US national security and hinting at possible use of force to annex it.

On Sunday, he vowed the US will acquire Greenland “one way or another,” suggesting Denmark cannot stop him and mocking its defenses as “two dog sleds.” Media reports claim Trump ordered aides to draft plans for a potential invasion.

Landry, appointed by Trump as his special envoy to Greenland in December, told Fox News Radio last week he intended to attend the annual Avannaata Qimussersua dog sled race in March and use the occasion to speak with locals about the benefits of closer ties with the US.

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“I’m interested in talking to Greenlanders. In fact, I got invited to, I think, the world’s largest dogsled event that goes up in March in Greenland. I’m going,” Landry said.

In a Facebook statement on Tuesday, the Greenland Dog Sledding Association (KNQK) said it was unaware who issued the invitation and called Landry’s potential presence “inappropriate” given his public advocacy for annexation.

“The KNQK Board finds it unacceptable that political pressure is being exerted from outside and considers the participation of foreign political actors in Avannaata Qimussersua wholly inappropriate,” Chairman Mikkel Jeremiassen wrote, adding that he had ordered an internal probe.

Landry has openly called Denmark’s rule of Greenland an “occupation” and urged the island to “claim their independence” to gain the US as an ally. His appointment as envoy prompted Copenhagen to summon the US ambassador, interpreting the move as a breach of diplomatic norms by treating Greenland as independent rather than an autonomous Danish territory.

READ MORE: Denmark is occupying Greenland – Trump envoy

Denmark has condemned Trump’s rhetoric as a direct threat to its sovereignty. Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen reiterated Tuesday that “Greenland will not be part of the US,” while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned any US attempt to use military force to annex the island would mark the “end of NATO.”