WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is planning to open a U.S. consulate in Greenland for the first time in decades amid increased strategic and economic interest in the Danish territory.
The State Department says in a letter to Congress that reestablishing a consulate in Greenland is part of a broader plan to increase the U.S. presence in the Arctic.
A copy of the letter was obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
U.S. President Donald Trump sparked a diplomatic dispute with U.S. ally Denmark this week after he proposed that the U.S. buy Greenland and the Danish government rejected the idea.
The U.S. opened a consulate in Greenland in 1940 after the Nazi occupation of Denmark. It closed in 1953. The new one would open next year in the capital of the semi-autonomous territory.
