{"id":87951,"date":"2026-05-21T02:37:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T02:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/87951\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T02:37:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T02:37:13","slug":"the-reception-is-great-gov-landry-defends-controversial-visit-to-greenland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/87951\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The reception is great’: Gov. Landry defends controversial visit to Greenland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry defended his\u00a0controversial visit to Greenland<\/a> this week after facing tough questions from journalists and a mixed reception from some locals in the Arctic territory.<\/p>\n

Landry traveled to Greenland as President Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy amid continued interest from the Trump administration in the semi-autonomous Danish territory for its strategic military position and natural resources.<\/p>\n

The governor initially appeared upbeat while speaking with reporters after arriving in Nuuk, Greenland\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I love it. It\u2019s great,\u201d Landry said when asked about his impression of Greenland.<\/p>\n

RELATED: ‘No thanks’: Greenland turns down U.S. hospital ship offer<\/a><\/p>\n

When another journalist asked whether he had a message from Trump, Landry replied: \u201cActually, I do. I talked to him late last night. He said, \u2018Go over there and make a bunch of friends.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But Landry later grew more combative with reporters following a visit to a trade fair in Nuuk, arguing that Greenland had largely been ignored by world leaders before Trump took office.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me ask y\u2019all something: when\u2019s the last time that any high-level diplomats came to Greenland \u2014 whether it\u2019s from Europe or not \u2014 before Donald Trump?\u201d Landry said. \u201cThat\u2019s a question Greenlanders should ask themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landry also pushed back when reporters questioned whether his presence in Greenland was welcomed. The governor traveled to the territory without an official invitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you showed up in Louisiana, am I going to throw you out because you weren\u2019t invited?\u201d Landry said. \u201cThis conference is open to the public … the reception has been great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen later met Landry during his visit and described the talks as \u201cconstructive,\u201d while also reaffirming Greenland\u2019s opposition to outside control.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe clearly reiterated that the people of Greenland are not for sale and that Greenlanders have the right to self-determination,\u201d Nielsen said during a news conference. \u201cThis is not a subject for negotiation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump administration officials have increasingly emphasized Greenland\u2019s importance because of its Arctic location, military significance, emerging shipping routes, and mineral resources.<\/p>\n

During an appearance on Fox News, Landry defended the administration\u2019s interest in the territory.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you live on the East Coast, remember that Greenland is halfway between Russia and Washington, D.C.,\u201d Landry said. \u201cYou never appreciate keeping the wolf or the bear from your front door until they\u2019re knocking on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Landry\u2019s visit drew criticism online and from some international media outlets, with critics characterizing the trip as diplomatically awkward.<\/p>\n

One moment captured on video showed Landry and First Lady Sharon Landry attempting to interact with a child in Greenland.<\/p>\n

Despite the criticism, Landry later posted on social media, thanking Greenland residents for what he called a \u201cwarm welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for the warm welcome, and I will continue to deepen ties between our people,” Landry wrote.<\/p>\n

Click here to report a typo.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u25ba Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store<\/a> or Google Play<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry defended his\u00a0controversial visit to Greenland this week after facing tough questions from journalists and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[46886,184,57,14180,1515],"class_list":["post-87951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-greenland","tag-controversial-visit","tag-donald-trump","tag-greenland","tag-jeff-landry","tag-nuuk"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116610246132819439","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}