Danish and Greenlandic officials said talks in Washington underscored a deep divide with President Donald Trump over Greenland’s future, even as both sides agreed to continue discussions through a new working group.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A senior Danish official said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” remains with President Donald Trump over Greenland following high-level meetings in Washington with U.S. officials, as Trump continues to press for American control of the semiautonomous territory.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen made the remarks after talks with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which were also attended by Greenland’s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt.
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Despite the sharp disagreement, Rasmussen said both sides agreed to establish a working group aimed at addressing U.S. security concerns while preserving Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland. “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,” Rasmussen told reporters following the meeting.
Trump has repeatedly argued that the United States needs to acquire Greenland, the world’s largest island, and has suggested that NATO should assist in facilitating a U.S. takeover of the territory, which belongs to NATO ally Denmark. He has said that anything short of American control is unacceptable.
The roughly hourlong meeting concluded without a public statement from the White House. However, hours before the talks, Trump wrote on social media that the United States “needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security,” adding that NATO should “be leading the way” and warning that Russia or China would otherwise seek influence there. “NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote. “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
Rasmussen said Denmark made its position unmistakably clear. “It remains clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland,” he said. “And we made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the kingdom,” adding that while there is a fundamental disagreement, Copenhagen remains willing to continue dialogue.
Motzfeldt echoed that cautious approach, expressing hope that the talks could eventually lead to closer cooperation without a transfer of sovereignty. “We have shown where our limits are and from there, I think that it will be very good to look forward,” she said.
As diplomatic tensions continued, Denmark announced concrete military steps. In Copenhagen, Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said Denmark would increase its military presence and exercise activity in the Arctic and North Atlantic in coordination with allies. He said the move reflects a security environment in which “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.”
“This means that from today and in the coming time there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from other NATO allies,” Poulsen said, declining to identify the additional countries involved.
Some allies have already publicly confirmed participation. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said officers from the Swedish Armed Forces were arriving in Greenland as part of preparations for the Danish exercise Operation Arctic Endurance. Norway also announced it would send two military personnel to assess further cooperation, according to Defense Minister Tore O. Sandvik.
Greenland’s strategic importance has grown as melting Arctic ice opens shorter shipping routes to Asia and increases access to untapped deposits of critical minerals used in modern electronics. Trump has also argued that Greenland is “vital” to the United States’ Golden Dome missile defense program and has repeatedly cited what he describes as threats from Russian and Chinese activity in the region.
Those claims are disputed by some Greenland residents and analysts. In Greenland’s capital, where international media have gathered amid the controversy, locals questioned Trump’s assertions. Heating engineer Lars Vintner said he regularly sails and hunts and has never seen Russian or Chinese vessels. “The only Chinese I see is when I go to the fast food market,” he said. His friend Hans Nørgaard added that Trump’s statements about foreign ships were “just fantasy.”
Denmark has emphasized that the United States already maintains a military presence in Greenland and can expand it under existing agreements. A 1951 treaty grants Washington broad rights to establish and operate military bases on the island with the consent of Denmark and Greenland.
Some Greenlanders say those arrangements are sufficient. A student identified as Mikaelsen said remaining part of Denmark provides tangible benefits, including health care and education support. “I don’t want the U.S. to take that away from us,” he said.
Rasmussen and Motzfeldt later planned to meet with members of the U.S. Senate’s Arctic Caucus, while a bipartisan group of American lawmakers is scheduled to visit Copenhagen to meet Danish and Greenlandic officials.
Despite the stalemate, Rasmussen said continued engagement remains essential. “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,” he said.
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