Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers at the White House on Wednesday, January 15, in a closed-door meeting to discuss President Donald Trump’s repeated calls to acquire Greenland, a self-governing territory controlled by Denmark. Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the discussions were “frank” and “constructive,” but that might be a more optimistic view. One side wants to maintain the status quo, the other has bigger ideas. What each decides to do could alter international relationships, for better or worse, and change the course of history.
Officials Butt Heads Over Greenland
When approaching the microphones for the news conference after Wednesday’s White House discussions with Rubio and Vance, Rasmussen and Vivian Motzfeldt, Greenland’s foreign minister, appeared stunned, exasperated, and out of sorts, as if they’d just returned from the future and had no words to describe what they saw. Each spoke for a couple of minutes, seemingly trying to spread a veneer of positivity over the outcome of the meeting, perhaps to convince themselves more than the public that the meeting really was “constructive.”
The discussions focused on how to ensure long-term security in Greenland, but their “perspectives continue to differ,” said Rasmussen. “The president has made his view clear. And we have a different position.” Rasmussen called it a “fundamental disagreement.” The two sides will form a "working group" in an attempt to work through their differences and to figure out how to address President Donald Trump's security concerns about Greenland.
Trump had been quiet for months about acquiring the Arctic territory but has recently turned up the pressure on the Danish and Greenlandic governments. He has repeatedly said that if the US doesn’t acquire Greenland, Russia or China will take it. “I am not going to let that happen,” he said Sunday. “I’d love to make a deal with them. It’s easier,” he added. “But one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland.” On Wednesday, before the meeting, he said it was a national security matter and that the territory is “vital for the Golden Dome that we are building” to prevent missile attacks.
The US has military access to the island under the 1951 Greenland Defense Agreement between Denmark and the US, and can “always ask for increasing its presence in Greenland,” said Rasmussen post-meeting. The three governments agree to disagree but will continue to talk, he said.
Trump officials have claimed that the administration is considering all options, including the use of military force. Though the president appears willing to purchase the island, leaders of Denmark and Greenland insist that the semi-autonomous territory is “not for sale.”
At a news conference in Copenhagen the day before the meeting, Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said, “If we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark.” Emphasizing his point, he added, “We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU.”
Bipartisan Opposition
What comes next is anybody’s guess. As Liberty Nation News’ Graham J. Noble recently said, “[N]o one really knows what Trump has up his sleeve.” Perhaps Florida Republican Randy Fine can give the president some leeway if the Greenland Annexation and Statehood Act is passed. “Rep. Fine’s bill seeks to give the president a great deal of room to maneuver,” said Noble. “It would authorize him ‘to take such steps as may be necessary, including by seeking to enter into negotiations with the Kingdom of Denmark, to annex or otherwise acquire Greenland as a territory of the United States.’” If the bill even hits the House floor for a vote, however, it might be dead on arrival.
