Greenland’s prime minister said he will seek a closer relationship with the US, highlighting the Arctic island’s push for independence amid renewed interest from Donald Trump.

“We have started a dialog and seek opportunities for cooperation with Trump,” Mute B. Egede said at a press briefing in Nuuk on Monday, according to local broadcaster KNR.

“We have the doors open in relation to mining,” he said. “This will also be the case in the coming years. We have to trade with the US.”

His comments come after President-elect Trump last week reiterated his ambition to take control of the island, a self-ruling territory of Denmark with 57 000 people. Both Egede and Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen have on several occasions stressed that Greenland is not for sale, and that it’s up to the Greenlandic people to decide the future of the island.

However, House Republicans have introduced a bill that would allow Trump to start negotiations with Denmark “to secure the acquisition of Greenland by the United States". Representative Andy Ogles, a Tennessee Republican, is the main sponsor of the two-page “Make Greenland Great Again Act.” A Panama Canal reacquisition bill has also been introduced, and has 16 sponsors so far.

In recent weeks, Egede has stepped up his rhetoric on loosening ties with Denmark and has indicated a referendum on independence could be coming in the next election period. Any potential secession would have to be approved by the Danish parliament, but Denmark’s ruling coalition has said it’ll respect any decision from Nuuk.

The renewed focus on Greenland has given the territory more leverage in its relationship with Denmark, putting the world’s largest island in an unexpected position of power.

“The situation now is that other countries have started to listen to us in Greenland,” Egede said at Monday’s press conference.

The prime minister will hold a meeting with the self-rule’s party leaders on Tuesday to discuss the situation, according to local media Sermitsiaq.