President Trump on Thursday while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office confidently stated he believes the United States would eventually annex Greenland. He even linked it to NATO security.

"I think it will happen," Trump told reporters. "And I’m just thinking, I didn’t give it much thought before but I’m sitting with a man that could be very instrumental. You know, Mark, we need that for international security," Trump said, acknowledging Rutte beside him.

"I don’t want to drag NATO in that," Rutte responded judiciously, but agreed the Arctic Circle region and Greenland in particular are critical for the security of the West, at a time Russia in China have increased their military presence there.

But the center-right Demokraatit party just won Greenland’s parliamentary elections this week, and Greenland’s likely new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, has surprised many by quickly coming out so strongly against Trump's rhetoric on Greenland:

"We don’t want to be Americans. No, we don’t want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders, and we want our own independence in the future," Nielsen, 33, told Britain’s Sky News. "And we want to build our own country by ourselves."

That didn’t stop Trump from suggesting during a Thursday Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte that Greenland’s election that it was “very good” for “us” and “the person who did the best is a very good person, as far as we’re concerned.”

Nielsen said while celebrating his party's surprising margin of victory that Greenland needs to stand together "in a time of great interest from outside."

Merely just four years ago Demokraatit won less than 10% in the last election, but took nearly 30% in Tuesday's election. Much of the campaigning and debate leading into it actually somewhat ignored Trump's eyeing Greenland, instead focusing mostly on issues like healthcare and other purely domestic concerns.

The center-right Demokraatik party has long advocated for a slower approach to independence, while another opposition party Naleraq, which took 24.5% of the vote to Demokraatik's 29.9% has called to sever ties with Denmark more quickly.

Trump issues provocative annexation statements on Greenland while NATO's Rutte sits and reacts nervously...

By and large, Greenland - which is a self-governing region of Denmark - has been moving toward independence since at least 2009. Trump’s transition team began consulting private sector experts as early as November on potential ventures in Greenland. Among the ideas being floated are rare earth mining projects and a new hydroelectric facility - a nod to the island’s renewable energy potential. These internal admin conversations underscore Washington’s escalating interest in the Arctic as a buffer against Chinese influence.

"Trump is absolutely capitalizing on Greenland’s push for independence," said Jacob Kaarsbo, independent foreign security adviser and former chief analyst at the Danish Defence Intelligence Service. "I can easily see a scenario where Greenland moves away from Denmark after the upcoming elections." But the question of whether that means toward the US remains to be seen. The fresh rhetoric from the young Demokraatit party suggests not.