Denmark’s top diplomat said on Wednesday (January 14, 2026) he failed to change the mind of U.S. 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, an autonomous territory of Copenhagen, met with Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in what they hoped would clear up “misunderstandings” after Trump’s bellicose language toward the NATO ally.
“We didn’t manage to change the American position. It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke 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 a U.S. 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 steadfast U.S. ally whose troops died alongside Americans in Afghanistan and, controversially, Iraq.
Watch: U.S. versus Denmark: The Greenland crisis explained
“Ideas that would not respect territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right of self-determination of the Greenlandic people are, of course, totally unacceptable,” Mr. Lokke said.
“We therefore still have a fundamental disagreement, but we also agree to disagree.”
Committee to be formed
He said the two sides would form a committee that would meet within weeks to see if there was possible headway.
Mr. Trump insisted hours before the talks that NATO should support the US effort to take control of Greenland, even though major European allies have all lined up to back Denmark.
Trump said Greenland was “vital” for 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 THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!”
Mocking tone
While the talks were underway, the White House posted on X: “Which way, Greenland man?”
The post included a drawing of two dogsleds — one heading towards the White House and a huge U.S. flag, and the other towards Chinese and Russian flags over a lightning-bathed Kremlin and Great Wall of China.
Neither country has claimed Greenland, and Lokke said no Chinese ship had been spotted there in a decade.
Denmark promised ahead of the meeting to ramp up military presence further in the vast, sparsely populated and strategically located island.
Mr. Trump has derided recent Danish efforts to increase security for Greenland as amounting to “two dogsleds.” Denmark says it has invested almost $14 billion in Arctic security.
Transatlantic relations strained
The row over Greenland has deeply shaken transatlantic relations. Both Denmark and Greenland insist only Greenlanders should decide the autonomous island’s fate.
In the quiet streets of the capital Nuuk, red and white Greenlandic flags were flying in shop windows, on apartment balconies, and on cars and buses, in a show of national unity as the talks got underway.
“We are standing together in these times when we might feel vulnerable,” the Nuuk municipality wrote on Facebook.
Greenland’s leader said on Tuesday that the island prefers to remain part of Denmark, prompting Trump to say “that’s going to be a big problem for him.”
Mr. Vance, who slammed 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 berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last February.
The meeting, however, was closed to the press, meaning there was no on-camera confrontation.
Emboldened by Venezuela
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told AFP earlier on Wednesday his country was boosting its military presence in Greenland and was in talks with NATO allies.
The Danish defence ministry then announced that it would do so “from today,” hosting a military exercise and sending in “aircraft, vessels and soldiers.”
Swedish officers were joining the exercise at Denmark’s request, Stockholm said.
Mr. Trump has appeared emboldened on Greenland — and on what he views as the U.S. backyard as a whole — since ordering a deadly January 3 attack in Venezuela that removed president Nicolas Maduro.
The White House has repeatedly said military action against Greenland remains on the table.
Published – January 15, 2026 01:56 am IST
