President Donald Trump has said he believes the US will gain control of Greenland, after showing renewed interest in acquiring the autonomous Danish territory in recent weeks. "I think we're going to have it," he told reporters on Air Force One on Saturday, adding that the island's 56,000 residents "want to be with us".

The story goes that Trump and Frederiksen spoke on the phone last week for about 45 minutes in what was expected to be a bit of a feeling-out between the two parties, given Trump’s very public declaration that he would like to take Greenland off Denmark’s hands.

During last week's tense call with the Danish premier, Trump insisted he was serious about taking over Greenland, the Financial Times reported, raising fears about the future of trans-Atlantic relations.