The Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers arrived at the White House on Wednesday morning for a meeting with US Vice-President JD Vance, as President Donald Trump reiterated his demand that Washington must take control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Trump says the strategically located and mineral-rich island is vital to US security and the US must own it to prevent Russia or China occupying it. He says all options are on the table for securing the territory.
“It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building,” he said in a social media post just hours before the meeting was due to start, referring to a proposed missile-defence system.
‘Not for sale’
Trump also said that Nato would become far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the US. “Anything less than that is unacceptable,” he wrote.
In a follow-up post citing Russia and China, Trump wrote: “Nato: Tell Denmark to get them out of here, NOW! Two dogsleds won’t do it! Only the USA can!!!”
Greenland and Denmark say the island is not for sale, that threats of force are reckless and security concerns should be resolved among allies. Prominent EU countries have backed Denmark.
It’s not the time to gamble with our right to self-determination, when another country is talking about taking us over
— Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen
Ahead of the meeting, Greenland and Denmark said they had begun to increase their military presence in and around Greenland in close co-operation with Nato allies, as part of their promise to beef up Arctic defence.
The increased military presence would include a range of exercise activities throughout 2026, according to the Danish defence ministry.
Avoiding ‘Zelensky moment’
When Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, meet Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio (at about 3.30pm GMT), their aim will be to de-escalate the crisis and find a diplomatic path to satisfy US demands for more control, analysts said.
“The end goal is to find some form of accommodation, or make a deal that would satisfy that need, or at least calm down the rhetoric sufficiently from Donald Trump,” Andreas Osthagen, research director for Arctic and ocean politics at the Oslo-based Fridtjof Nansen Institute, told Reuters.
Noa Redington, an analyst and former political adviser to previous Danish premier Helle Thorning-Schmidt, said concerns were high in Denmark and Greenland that Motzfeldt and Rasmussen could be treated in the same way as Ukrainian President leader Volodymyr Zelensky, when he suffered a public humiliation in a meeting with Trump — and Vance — at the White House in February 2025.
“This is the most important meeting in modern Greenland’s history,” he told Reuters.
Denmark and Greenland had originally sought a meeting with Rubio, hoping to have a discussion among top diplomats on resolving the crisis between the two Nato allies.
But Denmark’s Rasmussen said Vance had also wanted to participate and that the vice president would host the meeting himself, at the White House.
Greenland prefers Denmark
Greenlandic leaders appear to be shifting their approach in how they are handling the diplomatic crisis.
Until recently, they were stressing Greenland’s path to independence. But now their public statements put more emphasis on Greenland’s unity with Denmark.
“It’s not the time to gamble with our right to self-determination, when another country is talking about taking us over,” Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told Greenland daily Sermitsiaq in an interview published Wednesday.
“That doesn’t mean that we don’t want something in the future. But here and now we are part of the kingdom, and we stand with the kingdom. That’s crucial in this serious situation,” he said.
Motzfeldt had a similar message: “We choose the Greenland we know today – as part of the Kingdom of Denmark," she said in a statement released by the Danish ambassador to the US late on Tuesday.
European allies back Denmark and Greenland
Trump’s desire for Greenland contrasts with Americans’ opposition to annexation of the Arctic island. According to a new poll:
- just 17% of Americans approved of Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, and substantial majorities of Democrats and Republicans opposed using military force to annex the island, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found;
- about 47% of respondents disapproved of US efforts to acquire Greenland; while
- 35% said they were unsure, in the two-day poll which concluded on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, European allies reiterated their backing for Denmark and Greenland before the White House meeting, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying on Wednesday Greenlanders could “count on us“.
In Paris, France’s Emmanuel Macron said that, if the sovereignty of a European country and ally were to be affected, the knock-on effects would be unprecedented. France is to open a consulate in Nuuk on February 6.
Reuters
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