Leaders from Denmark and Greenland met with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday as the Trump administration continues its efforts to acquire the island.
A top Danish official said there was a “fundamental disagreement” over the ownership of the territory as President Donald Trump insists the U.S. needs to acquire the land to better compete with adversaries in the region like China and Russia.
The meeting, which lasted under an hour, appeared to be unsuccessful for the Trump team. They did agree to create a working group to discuss how to work through the differences, The Associated Press reported.
“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 said.
Løkke Rasmussen said it’s clear Trump has a “wish of conquering” Greenland, and Denmark has made it “very, very clear” that it’s not the kingdom’s interest.
Trump is focused on Greenland - here’s why
Trump, who has called for acquiring Greenland for months but recently renewed his efforts, has said the U.S. should have control over the island, which is a territory of Denmark.
Just days after the U.S. military operation in Venezuela, Trump and his team said they were discussing options to pursue the “important foreign policy goal” and noted that military intervention in Greenland is “always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal.”
European allies have rallied behind Denmark, who insist that the country is not for sale. The war of words sparked concern in Europe, leading to the meeting Wednesday.
Trump has repeatedly said that acquiring Greenland is a U.S. national security necessity in order to deter adversaries like China and Russia. The administration is reportedly concerned that the countries are building out commercial and military activities in the Arctic and believe the United States needs to do the same.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said U.S. activity in the region would prevent China and Russia from continuing “their aggression” in the important and “strategic” region.
China has an Arctic Policy, and a new paper from the Center for Strategic and International Studies says the country “controversially” refers to itself as a “Near-Arctic State.”
“Over the past seven years, China has attempted to grow its footprint in the region through scientific research expeditions, infrastructure investments, and natural resource acquisitions,” the CSIS paper said.
Greenland is also home to many rare earth minerals that both the U.S. and China want to control access to.
Congress is unsure of Trump’s designs on Greenland
Besides Denmark and Greenland, others are concerned about the possible acquisition.
Utah Rep. Blake Moore said in a statement that the United States already has “access to everything we could need from Greenland.”
Experts also warn that if the U.S. were to buy or invade the island, relationships with other allies would be threatened, as Greenland, a territory of Denmark, is a part of NATO.
Ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, Trump said online that NATO should be helping the U.S. acquire the island.
“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” he said. “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
The Deseret News has reached out to the White House for comment on the meeting, but during a bill signing in the Oval Office, Trump was asked by a reporter about an update on Greenland and he reiterated that he believes it’s needed for national security. He shared that the U.S. has a “very good relationship” with Denmark.
“But, you know, we’re doing the golden dome. We’re doing a lot of things, and we’re going to need it,” he said. “If we don’t go in, Russia is going to go in, and China is going to go in.”
Trump then engaged in a back-and-forth with a reporter about what he is going to do.
“You don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said.
“The problem is, there’s not a thing that Denmark can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland, but there’s everything we can do. We found that out last week with Venezuela,” Trump continued. “I can’t rely on Denmark being able to fend themselves off.”