Greenland and Denmark say Trump set on ‘conquering’ territory after meeting

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen says meeting with Trump administration ‘didn’t manage to change’ US position.Published On 14 Jan 2026The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland have travelled to Washington, DC, to meet with members of President Donald Trump’s administration in the United States.But on Wednesday, officials emerged having made little progress in dissuading Trump from seeking to take over Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘We choose Denmark’ over joining US, says Greenland PM Nielsenlist 2 of 3US senators introduce bill to stop Trump seizing Greenlandlist 3 of 3France to launch Greenland consulate in ‘political signal’ to USend of list“We didn’t manage to change the American position,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters after the meeting. “It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt had hoped that their sit-down with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance would alleviate mounting tensions over the fate of Greenland.But the meeting failed to address key disagreements. Instead, the officials declared their intent to establish a working group to continue to address concerns about control over Greenland and security in the Arctic region.“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 Denmark" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="8319" data-entity-type="location">Kingdom of Denmark,” Rasmussen said.Motzfeldt, meanwhile, called for cooperation with the US but said that her position does not mean that the country wants to be “owned by the United States”.A social media account representing Greenland’s government representation in the US and Canada also emphasised the need for Indigenous – or kalaallit – voices in any matters concerning the island.“Why don’t you ask us, kalaallit? Last time a poll was done only 6% of Greenlanders/kalaallit were in favour of becoming a part of the US,” the account wrote in a post on X.European allies have offered to expand security cooperation with the US in the Arctic, where the Trump administration has said that China and Russia pose a threat to Western interests.