US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Wednesday (Jan 8) rubbished President-elect Donald Trump’s idea to take over Greenland, terming it “not a good one”. At a press conference in Paris held alongside French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Blinken argued that the US should refrain from propagating narratives that may “alienate” American allies.

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“I think one of the basic propositions we brought to our work over the last four years is that we’re stronger, we’re more effective. We get better results when we’re working closely with our allies, not saying or doing things that may alienate them,” the top US diplomat said.

He added that the annexation of Greenland is “obviously” not going to happen.

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“Having said that, the idea expressed about Greenland is obviously not a good one, but maybe more important, it’s obviously one that’s not going to happen. So we probably shouldn’t waste a lot of time talking about it,” said Blinken.

House Democrats also reject Trump's Greenland push

Blinken’s statement came after Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries declared that his party would not back Trump’s expansionist agenda because Republican lawmakers were not elected to pursue such policies.

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“House Democrats believe that they are not sent to Washington to invade Greenland, rename the Gulf of Mexico or seize the Panama Canal by force. We were sent to Washington to lower the high cost of living in the United States of America,” the Democratic leader said at a press conference.

Also read: Why is Donald Trump interested in acquiring ownership of Greenland?

Greenland is currently administered by Denmark. The Danish foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, has already made clear his intention to discuss security issues with Trump, but he ruled out relinquishing control over the territory.

“We are open to a dialogue with the Americans on how we can possibly cooperate even more closely than we do to ensure that the American ambitions are fulfilled,” said Rasmussen.

“I have my own issues with Donald Trump and I also know that you shouldn’t say everything you think out loud,” he added.

(With inputs from agencies)