By Jasper Ward
(Reuters) - Greenland is important for the United States' national security, U.S. Congressman Mike Waltz said on Wednesday, following comments by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump suggesting the U.S. should take control of the island.
During an interview with Fox News, Waltz, who was tapped to serve as Trump's national security adviser, was asked about Trump wanting U.S. control over the Arctic island.
"You have Russia that is trying to become king of the Arctic, with 60-plus ice breakers, some of them nuclear power," he said. "We have two, and one just caught on fire."
Waltz added, "This is about critical minerals. This is about natural resources. This is about, as the polar ice caps pullback, the Chinese are now cranking out ice breakers and pushing up there as well. So it's oil and gas. It's our national security."
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, refused on Tuesday to rule out using military or economic action to acquire the island, an autonomous territory of Denmark. In his first term, Trump suggested that Denmark should sell Greenland, but the Danish government rebuffed that idea.
Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede has also stated that the island is not for sale.
The Arctic island's government on Wednesday acknowledged the changing security dynamics in the Arctic and said it looks forward to working with incoming Trump administration and other NATO allies to ensure security and stability in the region.
Greenland, which is part of NATO through the membership of Denmark, straddles the shortest route between Europe and North America and is strategically important for the U.S. military and its ballistic missile early-warning system.