WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A top Danish official said Wednesday that a \u201cfundamental disagreement\u201d over Greenland remains with President Donald Trump after highly anticipated talks in Washington 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 U.S. takeover of the semiautonomous territory of NATO ally<\/a> Denmark.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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,\u201d Danish Foreign Minister Lars L\u00f8kke Rasmussen told reporters after joining Greenland\u2019s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, for the talks.<\/p>\n Trump is trying to make the case that NATO should help the U.S. acquire the world\u2019s largest island and says anything less than it being under American control is unacceptable.<\/p>\n Denmark has announced plans to boost the country\u2019s military presence in the Arctic and North Atlantic as Trump tries to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover of the vast territory by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their designs on Greenland.<\/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 U.S. \u201cneeds Greenland for the purpose of National Security.\u201d He added that \u201cNATO should be leading the way for us to get it\u201d and that otherwise Russia or China would \u2014 \u201cAND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,\u201d Trump wrote. \u201cAnything less than that is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n L\u00f8kke Rasmussen told reporters that it remains \u201cclear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the kingdom,\u201d he said after the meeting, citing a \u201cfundamental disagreement\u201d 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 U.S. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have shown where our limits are and from there, I think that it will be very good to look forward,\u201d Motzfeldt said.<\/p>\n Denmark bolstering presence in Arctic<\/p>\n In Copenhagen, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced an increase in Denmark\u2019s \u201cmilitary presence and exercise activity\u201d in the Arctic and the North Atlantic, \u201cin close cooperation with our allies\u201d.<\/p>\n Poulsen said at a news conference the stepped-up military presence was necessary in a security environment in which \u201cno one can predict what will happen tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis 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,\u201d 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 \u201csome officers from the Swedish Armed Forces are arriving in Greenland today\u201d as part of a group from several allied countries. \u201cTogether, they will prepare events within the framework of the Danish exercise Operation Arctic Endurance,\u201d Kristersson said. Two Norwegian military personnel also will be sent to Greenland to map out further cooperation with allies, the country\u2019s Defense Minister Tore O. Sandvik told newspaper VG.<\/p>\n Greenlanders want the US to back off<\/p>\n Greenland is strategically important 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<\/a> which are needed for computers and phones.<\/p>\n Trump says Greenland is also \u201cvital\u201d to the United States\u2019 Golden Dome missile defense program<\/a>. 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