Denmark, Greenland failed to win the Trump team over

 

Denmark, Greenland failed to win the Trump team over

 

The U.S. allies hoped meeting senior Trump officials would diffuse tensions and tough talk on Greenland. It didn’t.

 

By Felicia Schwartz and Eli Stokols

01/14/2026 03:08 PM EST

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/14/denmark-greenland-failed-trump-problems-00729246

 

Denmark and Greenland “still have a fundamental disagreement” with the U.S. over President Donald Trump’s desire to control the Arctic territory, Denmark’s foreign minister said Wednesday.

 

Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his Greenland counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, finally had their chance to try to turn down the temperature at the White House after more than a year of aggressive internet trolling, statements and demands from the U.S. Their conversation did little to dissuade Trump and his team from their hold on Greenland.

 

“We didn’t manage to change the American position,” Rasmussen said. “It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland. We made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the Kingdom.”

 

Rasmussen and Motzfeldt took pains to describe the session as respectful, but their frustration that their longtime ally would not cooperate was clear.

 

“It is of course very emotional for all of us,” Rasmussen said.

 

The U.S., Denmark and Greenland agreed in the meeting to convene high-level working groups to see if they could find a way forward, but Rasmussen said he was unsure whether it would be possible.

 

Demands that would violate Denmark and Greenland’s sovereignty are “totally unacceptable,” he said.

 

Denmark has contributed $15 billion to Arctic security over the past two years and has pressed the U.S. and other NATO countries to do more through the alliance, Rasmussen added. Denmark announced earlier Wednesday that it would beef up its security presence in Greenland, which has been under Danish control for nearly 300 years.

 

The officials noted much of what Trump and his team continue to say about Greenland is untrue, including Trump’s often repeated claim that Greenland is crawling with Russian and Chinese warships. Rasmussen said there has not been a Chinese warship in the Arctic for a decade.

 

Those statements and Trump’s threatening tone do not yield a constructive dialogue, Rasmussen said.

 

“It is not easy to think innovatively about solutions when you wake up every morning to different threats,” he said.

 

On Wednesday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social that the U.S. needed to acquire Greenland for his Golden Dome missile defense project, his latest rationale.

 

“NATO should be leading the way for us to get it,” Trump wrote. “IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.”