A member of the European Parliament didn’t mince words when he offered a public message to President Donald Trump this week about his wish to make Greenland part of the United States.
“Dear President Trump, listen very carefully,” Anders Vistisen, a right-wing lawmaker from Denmark, said on Tuesday in Parliament. “Greenland have been part of the Danish kingdom for 800 years. It’s an integrated part of our country. It is not for sale.”
If that wasn’t direct enough, he next used some language that got him into a little trouble with the organisation.
“Let me put it in words you might understand,” he said. “Mr. Trump, fuck off!”
Nicolae Stefanuta, vice president of the European Parliament, essentially told Vistisen to watch his mouth.
“If the translation was correct, the term you used is not allowed in this house and there will be consequences to the message you have used,” he said. “It is not OK in this house of democracy. Thank you. Regardless of what we think of Mr. Trump, it is not possible to use such language.”
Vistisen didn’t seem very apologetic as he posted his message on X, complete with the rebuke:
Trump sought Greenland during his first term in office, saying in 2019 that it was “hurting Denmark very badly” by costing the nation $700 million a year. He said the United States could scoop it up.
“Essentially it’s a large real estate deal,” he said at the time.
He has brought it up again since winning the 2024 election, calling “ownership” of the island “an absolute necessity” for the United States, and refused to rule out taking it by force. Earlier this month, he claimed that the 56,000 people there “would love to become a state.”
Both Greenland and Danish officials have insisted that the island is not for sale.