Washington (AP) — Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” remains between Denmark and President Donald Trump over Greenland after highly anticipated talks at the White House involving Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rasmussen said the two sides agreed to create a working group to discuss how to work through their differences as Trump continues to press for a U.S. takeover of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.
Rasmussen told reporters after joining Greenland’s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, for the talks that the working group, in their 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.” He also said it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”
Trump, who did not attend Wednesday’s meeting, has continued to argue that NATO should help the United States acquire Greenland, saying anything less than American control is unacceptable. The AP reported that Trump did not get what he wanted from the talks.
After meeting with Danish leaders, Motzfeldt offered measured hope that the negotiations were beginning a conversation. “We have shown where our limits are and from there, I think that it will be very good to look forward,” she said.
Trump’s push has been linked by Denmark and its partners to concerns about NATO cohesion and the implications for the alliance’s posture in the Arctic and North Atlantic. In Denmark, officials said the country would boost its military presence in the region even as Trump seeks to justify his takeover call by repeatedly raising claims about designs by China and Russia for Greenland, where vast mineral reserves are seen as strategically relevant.
In Copenhagen, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced a stepped-up military presence in the Arctic “in close cooperation with our allies,” saying the security environment is one in which “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.” The report said Germany, France, Norway and Sweden announced they were arriving in Greenland with Danish personnel for joint exercises or to map out further military cooperation.
NATO is also examining how alliance members can collectively bolster the group’s presence in the Arctic, a NATO official said on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Greenlanders questioned whether Trump could be persuaded. Geng Lastein, who immigrated to Greenland from the Philippines 18 years ago, said, “Trump is unpredictable.” Maya Martinsen, 21, said she did not buy Trump’s arguments that Greenland needs to be controlled by the United States to maintain a security edge over China and Russia, saying instead that Trump is after the “oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”
Martinsen said Greenland “has beautiful nature and lovely people,” adding: “It’s just home to me. I think the Americans just see some kind of business trade.”
Denmark has said the United States, which already has a military presence, can boost its bases on Greenland. The AP reported that Denmark said the United States is party to a 1951 treaty that gives it broad rights to set up military bases there with the consent of Denmark and Greenland.
The Danish officials also met with a bipartisan group of senators from the Arctic Caucus. The senators said they were concerned Trump’s push to acquire Greenland could upend NATO and play into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said it was “stunning” they were even discussing the matter, saying, “We are operating in times where we are having conversations about things that we never even thought possible.” Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said it was “nonsense” to say the United States needs to control Greenland for national security, while adding that officials were “very open to additional national security assets in Greenland in order to meet whatever risks there are.”
Trump named Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry as a special envoy to Greenland last month. Landry did not attend Wednesday’s meeting, but was scheduled to travel to Washington on Thursday and Friday for meetings that include the Greenland topic, his spokesperson said. Landry posted on X that Trump was “absolutely right” about acquiring Greenland and that the territory is “a critical component of our nation’s national security portfolio.”