U.S. President Donald Trump said he has postponed a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredericksen due to her lack of interest in his offer to purchase Greenland.
“Denmark is a very special country with incredible people, but based on Prime Minister Mette Fredericksen’s comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks time for another time,” Trump tweeted Tuesday evening.
In an second tweet, Trump said he was looking forward to rescheduling the meeting “sometime in the future!”
The White House had previously said the meeting was not related to Trump’s interest in buying Greenland.
“We’re going to Poland and then we may be going to Denmark,” Trump told reporters on Sunday. “Not for this reason at all, but we’re looking at it.”
Trump confirmed he had recently discussed the possibility of purchasing Greenland, but said it was not an immediate priority.
“It’s just something we’ve talked about,” Trump said. “Denmark essentially owns it. We’re very good allies with Denmark. We’ve protected Denmark like we protect large portions of the world, so the concept came up.”
WATCH: Trump says Greenland purchase ‘strategically interesting’ to U.S.
“It is not number one on the burner, I can tell you that,” he said.
However, Frederiksen made it clear Greenland is not for sale, and called the idea of selling it to the United States “absurd.”
“Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland. I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously,” Frederiksen told the newspaper Sermitsiaq during a visit to Greenland.
Greenland is located between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans and is dependent on Danish economic support, but handles its own domestic affairs while Copenhagen looks after defense and foreign policy.
A defence treaty between Denmark and the United States dating back to 1951 gives the U.S. military rights over the Thule Air Base in northern Greenland.
WATCH: Greenland tells Trump it’s ‘not for sale’
On Friday, Greenland’s foreign minister Ane Lone Bagger told Reuters, “We are open for business, but we’re not for sale.”
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were scheduled to visit Poland and Denmark from Aug. 31 to Sept. 3 according to a statement from the White House. It is not clear whether the rest of the trip will still take place.
— With files from Reuters and the Associated Press
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