Denmark says 'fundamental disagreement' with US over Greenland

President Trump has said that anything less than US control of Greenland is “unacceptable” and said Nato should help him acquire the country. US Correspondent Dan Rivers reports

There is still a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland following talks between US, Greenland and Danish officials on Wednesday.

Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenland’s foreign minister Vivian Motzfeldt hosted a press conference after discussions with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington.

It is “clear that president has this wish of conquering over Greenland”, Rasmussen said, but added that the meeting gave them “the opportunity to at least challenge the narrative presented by the American president”.

“We want to work with our American friends and allies but it must be respectiful cooperation,” he said.

While there is a “fundamental disagreement”, the two sides “agree to disagree”, Rasmussen said.

The meeting was hosted by Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine.

President Donald Trump said earlier on Wednesday that anything less than American control of Greenland is “unacceptable”, adding that Nato should help the US acquire the country.

In a post on Truth social, Trump reiterated his argument 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 — “AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!”

“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote.

“Anything less than that is unacceptable.”

The US president has repeatedly suggested that Greenland’s security amounts to “two dogsleds” and in a separate post on Truth Social on Wednesday wrote: “NATO: Tell Denmark to get them out of here, NOW! Two dogsleds won’t do it! Only the USA can!!!”

Greenland has become the focus of a geopolitical dispute after Trump said he wants the US to own the island, a demand residents in the capital, Nuuk, have rejected.

Trump has said he wants to control Greenland “at any cost”, and the White House has not ruled out the use of force, while Denmark’s prime minister has warned that seizing the island by force could threaten the future of Nato.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told a news conference in the Danish capital Copenhagen on Tuesday that, “if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose Nato. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU.”

Asked later on Tuesday about Nielsen’s comments, Trump replied: “I disagree with him. I don’t know who he is. I don’t know anything about him. But, that’s going to be a big problem for him.”

JD Vance in Greenland last year. / Credit: AP

Greenland is important because melting ice linked to climate change could open shorter shipping routes to Asia and make it easier to access and transport untapped deposits of critical minerals used in devices such as computers and phones.

Trump has also said he wants Greenland to strengthen US security, citing what he describes as a threat from Russian and Chinese ships.

However, both experts and Greenlanders have questioned that claim.

Denmark has repeatedly said the US, which already has a military presence on Greenland, is free to expand its bases there.

For that reason, Lars Vintner, a Greenlandic heating engineer, said claims about boosting security were “just a cover”, suggesting Trump’s real aim was to profit from the island’s untapped natural resources.

The talks come as two other lawmakers, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have introduced bipartisan legislation.

It is hoped to block the use of US defence or state department funds to annex or take control of Greenland, or any Nato member’s territory, without consent or approval from the North Atlantic Council.