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

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen says gathering with Trump medication ‘didn’t negociate to change’ US position.

The overseas ministers of Denmark and Greenland person travelled to Washington, DC, to conscionable with members of President Donald Trump’s medication successful the United States.

But connected Wednesday, officials emerged having made small advancement successful dissuading Trump from seeking to instrumentality implicit Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory.

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“We didn’t negociate to alteration the American position,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters aft the meeting. “It’s wide that the president has this privation of conquering implicit 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 implicit the destiny of Greenland.

But the gathering failed to code cardinal disagreements. Instead, the officials declared their intent to found a moving radical to proceed to code concerns astir power implicit Greenland and information successful the Arctic region.

“The group, successful our view, should absorption connected however to code the American information concerns, portion astatine the aforesaid clip respecting the reddish lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Rasmussen said.

Motzfeldt, meanwhile, called for practice with the US but said that her presumption does not mean that the state wants to beryllium “owned by the United States”.

A societal media relationship representing Greenland’s authorities practice successful the US and Canada besides emphasised the request for Indigenous – oregon kalaallit – voices successful immoderate matters concerning the island.

“Why don’t you inquire us, kalaallit? Last clip a canvass was done lone 6% of Greenlanders/kalaallit were successful favour of becoming a portion of the US,” the relationship wrote successful a post connected X.

European allies person offered to grow information practice with the US successful the Arctic, wherever the Trump medication has said that China and Russia airs a menace to Western interests.

But those offers person done thing to blunt Trump’s insistence that the US volition “own” the territory, contempt rising alarm from the territory’s authorities and European allies.

On Wednesday, Trump reiterated his presumption that the US needs to ain Greenland for “national security” purposes, during an Oval Office ceremonial to motion authorities astir home beverage consumption.

The president besides questioned whether Denmark could repel immoderate imaginable invasion, should 1 occur.

“Greenland is precise important for the nationalist security, including of Denmark,” Trump told reporters successful the Oval Office connected Wednesday.

“And the occupation is there’s not a happening that Denmark tin bash astir it if Russia oregon China wants to inhabit Greenland, but there’s everything we tin do.”

He added that  he has “a precise bully narration with Denmark” and would beryllium briefed astir Wednesday’s gathering aft his Oval Office appearance.

The United States already has a subject beingness successful Greenland and could grow it further nether the presumption of an existing treaty.

“They person a basal determination astatine the moment; it has astir 150 unit there. But the Danes and the Greenlandic authorities are consenting to sermon expanding the US subject beingness there,” said Al Jazeera analogous Alan Fisher.

“But Donald Trump says that, unless it’s nether US control, past thing little is unacceptable, and he’d similar to spot the US determination into Greenland sooner than later.”