Danish officials claim a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with President Donald Trump after highly anticipated talks with the vice president and secretary of state.
It comes as Trump insisted anything less than total US control of the island would be “unacceptable”.
The two sides, however, agreed to create a working group to discuss ways to work through differences as Trump continues to call for a US takeover of the semi-autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.
“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told reporters after joining Greenland’s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, for the talks.
Trump is trying to make the case that NATO should help the US acquire the world’s largest island.
Denmark has announced plans to boost the country’s military presence in the Arctic and North Atlantic as Trump tries to justify his calls for a US takeover of the vast territory by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their designs on Greenland.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the roughly hour-long meeting, which featured JD Vance and Marco Rubio.
But a few hours before the officials sat down, Trump said on his social media site that the US “needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security”.
“NATO should be leading the way for us to get it”, and that otherwise Russia or China would — “AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!”, he said.
“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote.
“Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
Løkke Rasmussen told reporters that it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland”.
“And we made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the kingdom,” he said after the meeting, citing a “fundamental disagreement” with the Trump administration but willing to keep talking.
Both Løkke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt offered measured hope that the talks were beginning a conversation that would lead to Trump dropping his demand to acquiring the territory and create a path for tighter cooperation with the US
“We have shown where our limits are and from there, I think that it will be very good to look forward,” Motzfeldt said.
Denmark increases military presence in Greenland
The government of Greenland and Denmark’s Ministry of Defence announced there would be an increased military presence in and around the territory starting on Wednesday (today AEDT) due to “security tensions”.
Denmark said its armed forces were “deploying capacities and units in connection with exercise activities from today, which will result in an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from NATO allies, in the coming period”.
It added that the expanded exercise activities could include guarding critical infrastructure, providing assistance to Greenlandic authorities – including police – receiving allied troops, deploying fighter aircraft in and around Greenland, and naval operations.
Sweden has also sent an unspecified number of troops to Greenland, following Denmark’s request to do so, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced on X.
European leaders have rejected Trump’s calls to control Greenland. French President Emmanuel Macron warned the knock-on effects of the US trying to seize Greenland from Denmark would be “unprecedented.”
“We do not underestimate the statements regarding Greenland. If the sovereignty of a European and allied country were to be affected, the knock-on consequences would be unprecedented,” Macron said, according to his government’s spokesperson.
He said France is monitoring the situation and “will conduct its actions in full solidarity with Denmark and its sovereignty”.
Earlier, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, reiterated that Greenland belongs to its people, so it is up to Denmark and Greenland to decide its future.
“For me, it is important Greenlanders know … that we respect (their) wishes and they, they can count on us,” she added.
Trump suggested over the weekend that he would move forward with his goal to acquire Greenland with or without a deal.
“I’d love to make a deal with them. It’s easier. But one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
Asked about the possibility of the move compromising NATO, Trump said, “I’m the one that saved NATO”.
He stopped short of saying he would pull the US out of NATO, adding, “maybe they would be upset” if he took Greenland but expressing indifference about the effects of such a move: “If it affects NATO, then it affects NATO”.
Pressed by CNN on Sunday whether he would increase the amount of US military bases on Greenland in the meantime, Trump said, “We could put a lot of soldiers there right now if I want, but you need more than that. You need ownership. You really need title”.
Greenlanders want the US to back off
Greenland is strategically important because, as climate change causes the ice to melt, it opens up the possibility of shorter trade routes to Asia. That also could make it easier to extract and transport untapped deposits of critical minerals which are needed for computers and phones.
Trump says Greenland is also “vital” to the United States’ Golden Dome missile defence program. He also has said he wants the island to expand America’s security and has repeatedly cited what he says is the threat from Russian and Chinese ships as a reason to control it.
But experts and Greenlanders question that claim, and it has become a hot topic on the snow-covered main street in Greenland’s capital, where international journalists and camera crews have descended as Trump continues his takeover talk.
“The only Chinese I see is when I go to the fast food market,” heating engineer Lars Vintner said. He said he frequently goes sailing and hunting and has never seen Russian or Chinese ships.
His friend, Hans Nørgaard, agreed, adding “what has come out of the mouth of Donald Trump about all these ships is just fantasy”.
Denmark has said the US, which already has a military presence, can boost its bases on Greenland. The US is party to a 1951 treaty that gives it broad rights to set up military bases there with the consent of Denmark and Greenland.
For that reason, “security is just a cover,” Vintner said, suggesting Trump actually wants to own the island to make money from its untapped natural resources.
Mikaelsen, the student, said Greenlanders benefit from being part of Denmark, which provides free health care, education and payments during study, and “I don’t want the US to take that away from us”.
Løkke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt, along with Denmark’s ambassador to the US, planned to meet with senators from the Arctic Caucus. A bipartisan delegation of US lawmakers is also heading to Copenhagen this week to see Danish and Greenlandic officials.
Both Løkke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt said while they remain at loggerheads with Trump, but it remains critical to keep talking.
“It is in everybody’s interest — even though we disagree — that we agree to try to explore whether it is doable to accommodate some of the concerns while at the same time respecting the integrity of the Danish kingdom’s territory and the self-determination of the Greenlandic people,” Løkke Rasmussen said.