Denmark PM says 'you cannot spy against an ally' following reports of US spying on Greenland

Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced Friday that you cannot spy against an ally in response to reports that the U S was gathering intelligence on Greenland as U S President Donald Trump has continued to suggest purchasing the Arctic island Cooperation about defense and deterrence and shield in the northern part of Europe is getting more and more major Frederiksen notified The Associated Press Of program you cannot spy against an ally Frederiksen made the comments as Denmark and Greenland push back on Trump's desire to acquire the autonomous Danish territory stressing that it is not for sale Trump however has not ruled out taking it by military force despite Denmark being a NATO ally GREENLAND'S PRIME MINISTER SAYS ISLAND CANNOT BE BOUGHT US HAS 'NOT BEEN RESPECTFUL' I don t rule it out I don t say I m going to do it but I don t rule out anything Trump explained earlier this week during an interview on NBC News' Meet the Press We need Greenland very badly Greenland is a very small amount of people which we ll take care of and we ll cherish them and all of that but we need that for international measure he added The Danish prime minister's declaration on Friday came the day after Denmark summoned the top American diplomat in the country for an explanation to a account from The Wall Street Journal about several high-ranking functionaries under the U S director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard directing intelligence agency heads to collect information on Greenland s independence movement and views about U S reserve extraction on the island Acting head of the U S Embassy in Copenhagen Jennifer Hall Godfrey met with Danish diplomat Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen at the Danish Foreign Ministry although details of the meeting were not disclosed Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen stated Greenland newspaper Sermitsiaq that the reports of U S espionage are unacceptable and disrespectful Nielsen reported last month that Greenland will never ever be a piece of property that can be bought by just anyone and that the talks from the United States have not been respectful TRUMP SAYS HE WASN'T 'TROLLING' ABOUT ACQUIRING GREENLAND CANADA AS ST STATEGabbard s office circulated a message saying she had made three criminal referrals to the U S Justice Department over intelligence locality leaks in response to the assessment from The Wall Street Journal which cited two sources familiar with the matter The Wall Street Journal should be ashamed of aiding deep state actors who seek to undermine the President by politicizing and leaking classified information Gabbard noted They are latest the law and undermining our nation s measure and democracy Those who leak classified information will be unveiled and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law The Associated Press contributed to this analysis