- Danish, Greenlandic ministers meet Vance and Rubio in the White House.
- Trump insists that NATO must support the US’s attempt to control Greenland.
- Copenhagen increases military presence, launches Arctic exercises.
Denmark’s top diplomat said Wednesday that he failed to change the mind of US President Donald Trump’s administration on his threats to seize Greenland after flying to the White House for talks.
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland, a self-governing territory in Copenhagen, met with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in what they hoped would clear up “misunderstandings” following Trump’s bellicose language toward Nato allies.
“We failed to change the American position. It is clear that the president has this desire to conquer Greenland,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told reporters after the meeting.
“And we made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the kingdom.”
The minister said that a US takeover of Greenland, where Washington has long had a military base, was “absolutely not necessary.”
He said the issue was “very emotional” for the people of Greenland and Denmark, a staunch American ally whose troops have died alongside Americans in Afghanistan and, controversially, Iraq.
“Ideas that do not respect the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right of self-determination of the Greenlandic people are of course totally unacceptable,” said Lokke.
“We therefore still have a fundamental disagreement, but we also agree to disagree.”
He said the two sides would form a committee that would meet within weeks to see if progress was possible.
Trump insisted hours before the talks that Nato should support US efforts to take control of Greenland, even though major European allies have all lined up to support Denmark.
Trump said Greenland was “vital” to his planned Golden Dome air and missile defense system.
“Anything less than that is unacceptable,” he wrote on his Truth Social network. “IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL AND IT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!”
Mocking tone
While the negotiations were underway, the White House wrote on X: “Which way, Greenlander?”
The post included a drawing of two dog sleds – one headed toward the White House and a huge American flag, and the other toward Chinese and Russian flags over a lightning-bathed Kremlin and the Great Wall of China.
Neither country has claimed Greenland, and Lokke said no Chinese ship had been seen there in a decade.
Denmark promised ahead of the meeting to further increase the military presence on the large, sparsely populated and strategically located island.
Trump has mocked the latest Danish efforts to increase security for Greenland as equivalent to “two dog sleds”. Denmark says it has invested nearly $14 billion in Arctic security.
The dispute over Greenland has deeply shaken transatlantic relations. Both Denmark and Greenland insist that only Greenlanders must decide the fate of the self-governing island.
In the quiet streets of the capital Nuuk, red and white Greenlandic flags flew in shop windows, on apartment balconies and on cars and buses, in a show of national unity as the negotiations got under way.
“We stand together in these times when we can feel vulnerable,” Nuuk municipality writes on Facebook.
Greenland’s leader said Tuesday that the island prefers to remain part of Denmark, prompting Trump to say “that’s going to be a big problem for him.”
Vance, who denounced Denmark as a “bad ally” during a visit to Greenland last year, is known for a hard edge, which was on display when he publicly lambasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last February.
However, the meeting was closed to the press, meaning there was no on-camera confrontation.
Encouraged by Venezuela
Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said so AFP earlier Wednesday, his country strengthened its military presence in Greenland and was in talks with NATO allies.
The Danish Ministry of Defense then announced that it would do so “from today” by hosting a military exercise and sending “aircraft, vessels and soldiers”.
Swedish officers participated in the exercise at Denmark’s request, Stockholm said.
Trump has been brazen about Greenland — and what he views as America’s backyard as a whole — since he ordered a deadly attack on January 3 in Venezuela that ousted President Nicolas Maduro.
The White House has repeatedly said that military action against Greenland remains on the table.
