Greenland’s leader said on Friday he had not been in contact with incoming US president Donald Trump, who has said he wants control over the Arctic island, and urged everyone to respect Greenland’s wish for independence.

Greenland may become independent if its residents want, but is unlikely to become a U.S. state, Denmark's foreign minister said on Wednesday after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump refused to rule out force to take control of the Arctic island.

Copenhagen has been deliberating over how to respond to statements by US President-elect Donald Trump about his desire to annex Greenland, amid indications that these remarks are not merely jokes. Danish officials have reportedly received signals from Trump's advisors and allies suggesting that he is serious about his plans.

Some of Trumps threats to take over Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal are based on actual U.S. strategic goals. Others are just idiotic.

Faced with what many in Denmark are calling Trump's "provocation," Frederiksen has broadly attempted to strike a conciliatory tone, repeatedly referring to the US as "Denmark's closest partner". It was "only natural" that the US was preoccupied by the Arctic and Greenland, she added.

The island’s rare earth minerals and plum Arctic position have turned it into a geopolitical hotspot and the object of American fantasies.