{"id":233689,"date":"2026-01-15T00:35:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T00:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/233689\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T00:35:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T00:35:26","slug":"trump-danes-in-fundamental-disagreement-over-greenland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/233689\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump, Danes in ‘fundamental disagreement’ over Greenland"},"content":{"rendered":"

A top Danish official said today a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with US President Donald Trump after highly anticipated talks in Washington<\/a> with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.<\/p>\n

The two sides, however, agreed to create a working group to discuss ways to work through differences as Trump continues to call for a US takeover of the semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.<\/p>\n

“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 L\u00f8kke Rasmussen told reporters after joining Greenland’s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, for the talks.<\/p>\n

Trump is trying to make the case that NATO should help the US acquire the world’s largest island<\/a> and says anything less than it being under American control is unacceptable.<\/p>\n

Denmark has announced plans to boost the country’s military presence in the Arctic and North Atlantic as Trump tries to justify his calls for a US takeover<\/a> of the vast territory by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their designs on Greenland.<\/p>\n

\"Denmark's<\/p>\n

Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars L\u00f8kke Rasmussen and Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the roughly hourlong meeting.<\/p>\n

But a few hours before the officials sat down, Trump said on his social media site that the US “needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security”. He added that “NATO should be leading the way for us to get it” and that otherwise Russia or China would \u2014 “AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!”<\/p>\n

“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote. “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”<\/p>\n

L\u00f8kke Rasmussen told reporters that it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”<\/p>\n

“And we made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the kingdom,” he said after the meeting, citing a “fundamental disagreement” with the Trump administration but willing to keep talking.<\/p>\n

Both L\u00f8kke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt offered measured hope that the talks were beginning a conversation that would lead to Trump dropping his demand of acquiring the territory and create a path for tighter cooperation with the US.<\/p>\n

“We have shown where our limits are and from there, I think that it will be very good to look forward,” Motzfeldt said.<\/p>\n

\"Greenland's<\/p>\n

Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speaks at a news conference. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Denmark bolstering presence in Arctic<\/p>\n

In Copenhagen, Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced an increase in Denmark\u2019s “military presence and exercise activity” in the Arctic and the North Atlantic, “in close cooperation with our allies”.<\/p>\n

Poulsen said at a news conference the stepped-up military presence was necessary in a security environment in which “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.”<\/p>\n

“This means that from today and in the coming time there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from other NATO allies,” Poulsen said.<\/p>\n

Other NATO allies were arriving in Greenland along with Danish personnel, he said. Poulsen declined to name the other countries contributing to increased Arctic presence, saying that it is up to the allies to announce their own participation.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on X that “some officers from the Swedish Armed Forces are arriving in Greenland today” as part of a group from several allied countries. “Together, they will prepare events within the framework of the Danish exercise Operation Arctic Endurance,” Kristersson said. Two Norwegian military personnel also will be sent to Greenland to map out further cooperation with allies, the country\u2019s Defence Minister Tore O. Sandvik told newspaper VG.<\/p>\n

Greenlanders want the US to back off<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The demonstration under the slogan Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders is held in front of the American embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Greenland is strategically important<\/a> because, as climate change causes the ice to melt, it opens up the possibility of shorter trade routes to Asia. That also could make it easier to extract and transport untapped deposits of critical minerals which are needed for computers and phones.<\/p>\n

Trump says Greenland is also “vital” to the United States’ Golden Dome missile defence programme. He also has said he wants the island to expand America\u2019s security and has repeatedly cited what he says is the threat from Russian and Chinese ships as a reason to control it.<\/p>\n

But experts and Greenlanders question that claim, and it has become a hot topic on the snow-covered main street in Greenland\u2019s capital, where international journalists and camera crews have descended as Trump continues his takeover talk.<\/p>\n

“The only Chinese I see is when I go to the fast food market,” heating engineer Lars Vintner said. He said he frequently goes sailing and hunting and has never seen Russian or Chinese ships.<\/p>\n

His friend, Hans N\u00f8rgaard, agreed, adding “what has come out of the mouth of Donald Trump about all these ships is just fantasy.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A boat travels at the sea inlet in Nuuk, Greenland. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Denmark has said the US, which already has a military presence, can boost its bases on Greenland. The US is party to a 1951 treaty that gives it broad rights to set up military bases there with the consent of Denmark and Greenland.<\/p>\n

For that reason, “security is just a cover,” Vintner said, suggesting Trump actually wants to own the island to make money from its untapped natural resources.<\/p>\n

Mikaelsen, the student, said Greenlanders benefit from being part of Denmark, which provides free health care, education and payments during study, and “I don’t want the US to take that away from us.”<\/p>\n

L\u00f8kke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt, along with Denmark\u2019s ambassador to the US, planned to meet later Wednesday with senators from the Arctic Caucus. A bipartisan delegation of US lawmakers is also heading to Copenhagen this week to see Danish and Greenlandic officials.<\/p>\n

Both L\u00f8kke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt said while they remain at loggerheads with Trump, it remains critical to keep talking.<\/p>\n

“It is in everybody\u2019s interest \u2014 even though we disagree \u2014 that we agree to try to explore whether it is doable to accommodate some of the concerns while at the same time respecting the integrity of the Danish kingdom\u2019s territory and the self-determination of the Greenlandic people,” L\u00f8kke Rasmussen said.<\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including rough weather on the way, and a massive cocaine seizure. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A top Danish official said today a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with US President Donald Trump after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[65,42,43,64,40,38,41,39,1745,66],"class_list":["post-233689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-uk-europe","tag-us-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}