{"id":248540,"date":"2026-01-16T22:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/248540\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T22:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:20:10","slug":"diplomatic-standoff-awaits-as-us-senators-fly-to-denmark-for-greenland-talks-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/248540\/","title":{"rendered":"Diplomatic standoff awaits as US senators fly to Denmark for Greenland talks \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A bipartisan group of US senators flew into Denmark<\/a> on Friday \u2013 and straight into a fresh diplomatic standoff over Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s aspirations to take over Greenland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even before the 11 visitors arrived, hoping to \u201creduce the temperature\u201d, Denmark\u2019s furious foreign minister Lars L\u00f8kke Rasmussen was threatening \u201ca very, very short series of meetings\u201d.<\/p>\n

The reason for his fury was an overnight claim by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt that the meeting \u2013 agreed between officials from the US, Denmark and Greenland on Wednesday \u2013 would discuss \u201cthe acquisition of Greenland\u201d.<\/p>\n

The US visitors were scheduled to meet both prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland, Mette Frederiksen and Jens-Frederik Nielsen. And to make an impression on the visitors, Denmark\u2019s Folketinget parliament made sure to fly the red-and-white flag of the Arctic island \u2013 part of the Danish Kingdom of Denmark for three centuries.<\/p>\n

Leading the US group was Democratic senator Chris Coons of Delaware, who said the visitors were there to listen to local views and \u201clower the temperature\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"GreenlandicGreenlandic politician Aaja Chemnitz Arnatsiaq Larsen, US senator Chris Coons and Danish politician Christian Friis Bach at the Danish parliament, Christiansborg, in Copenhagen on Friday. Photograph: Martin Sylvest Andersen\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Republican senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said the Trump demand \u201cwas not a good idea\u201d and promised to tell her US colleagues that \u201cGreenland needs to be viewed as our ally, not as an asset\u201d.<\/p>\n

Back in the US, Trump threatened fresh tariffs on goods from countries that push back against his Greenland plan. \u201cI may put a tariff on countries if they don\u2019t go along with Greenland,\u201d he said in the White House, \u201cbecause we need Greenland for national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raising the temperature from a distance, too, was Jeff Landy. The governor of Louisiana and Trump\u2019s special envoy for Greenland, who plans his first visit to the island in March, said Trump has \u201claid markers down\u201d for a takeover. \u201cI do believe that there\u2019s a deal that should and will be made oncethis plays out,\u201d he told Fox News.<\/p>\n

Denmark-based Greenland MP Aaja Chemnitz attacked these interventions as proof that the Trump administration was \u201ca difficult partner to have as you cannot count on what you have agreed\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis means that credibility is not very high, as I see it,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can\u2019t buy something that is not for sale. We have said that thousands of times in thousands of different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The battle for Greenland: The billionaire behind Donald Trump\u2019s obsessionOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Greenland unity frays as Denmark resists US push for Arctic controlOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

After another week of megaphone \u2013 and closed-door \u2013 diplomacy, weekend marches are planned all over Denmark and Greenland in protest against Trump\u2019s unwanted advances and demanding full self-determination for Greenland.<\/p>\n

After 250 years as a Danish colony, Greenland has been moving towards self-rule since 1979 and, since 2009, has control over almost all competences except foreign and security affairs. <\/p>\n

Demonstrations are planned at noon on Saturday in the Danish cities of Aarhus, Aalborg and Copenhagen, the last ending before the US embassy. The main organiser of the marches is the Inuit Joint Association, an umbrella organisation for groups representing Greenland\u2019s native population. Chief organiser Camilla Siezing said the interest in the demonstration has been \u201chuge\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually we don\u2019t get involved in political issues,\u201d said Siezing, \u201cbut with current the situation \u2013 and how it will affect Greenlandic heritage, identity and culture \u2013 we have found it difficult to hold back\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the weekend marches, one Danish flagmaker said demand for Greenlandic flag comprised \u201c90 per cent of all our online orders this week, a sharp increase from the normal 3 to 5 per cent\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Greenlandic flag next to the main entrance of the Danish parliament, Christiansborg, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Photograph: Sebastian Elias Uth\/Ritzau Scanpix\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

In Greenland\u2019s capital Nuuk, a rally on Saturday at 1pm will march to the US consulate.<\/p>\n

Organiser Bikki Jepsen said the main message of marchers was for the US to respect Greenland\u2019s democracy, its right to self-determination and fundamental human rights.<\/p>\n

Organiser, Avijaja Rosing-Olsen, said Greenland\u2019s demand for self-determination and respect was not just a local issue: \u201cThis is a struggle that concerns the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A bipartisan group of US senators flew into Denmark on Friday \u2013 and straight into a fresh diplomatic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3025,969,3024,42,43,40,38,41,39,115,90],"class_list":{"0":"post-248540","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-denmark","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-greenland","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-top-news","14":"tag-top-stories","15":"tag-topnews","16":"tag-topstories","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}