Denmark has summoned the US ambassador over reports that US intelligence agencies have been instructed to increase surveillance on Greenland. This reflects Donald Trump's renewed interest in acquiring the island; he claims that it is vital for US security. Foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen expressed serious concern, saying, ‘We do not spy on friends’. Danish and Greenlandic leaders have united in rejecting Trump’s overtures: prime minister Mette Frederiksen has also described the visit to Greenland by vice-president JD Vance in March as ‘completely unacceptable pressure’. Joe Biden has denounced Trump’s remarks as un-American. The USA has had a military base in Greenland since World War Two, and Trump may also have an interest in the rare earth minerals that could be mined. However, polls show that the vast majority of Greenlanders want to become independent from Denmark but do not wish to become part of the USA.