NUUK, Denmark (AFP) — More than 500 Greenlanders demonstrated against US President Donald Trump’s desire to control the vast Arctic island, after the inauguration of the US consulate’s new premises in Nuuk.

The crowd chanted and held posters reading “Go Home USA”, “Make America Go Away!” and “We are not for sale,” with many waving Greenland’s red-and-white flag, according to an Agence France-Presse journalist at the scene in the island nation’s capital late on Thursday.

“Asu (‘Stop’ in Greenlandic) USA,” read another sign.

Trump has repeatedly argued that Washington needs to control Greenland because of national security concerns, claiming that if it does not, the Danish autonomous territory risks falling into the hands of China or Russia.

The demonstrators turned their backs on the consulate building and observed two minutes of silence to express their displeasure with the US.

The new premises, in the center of the capital Nuuk, had been inaugurated a little earlier in the presence of the US ambassador to Denmark, Kenneth Howery.