Danish Ambassador Jesper Möller Sørensen and Greenland’s chief representative in Washington, Jakob Isbosesson, met with White House National Security Council officials on Thursday to discuss Trump’s possible reacquisition of Greenland through military force, according to Danish government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment about the meeting.
The envoys also held a series of meetings with U.S. lawmakers this week seeking help convincing Trump to abandon his threats.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio expected Meeting with Danish officials next week.
In an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday, Trump said he must own all of Greenland and not just enforce a long-standing treaty that gives the United States broad latitude to use Greenland for military bases.
“I think ownership gives you something that you can’t do, you’re talking about a lease or a treaty. Ownership gives you things and elements that you can’t get by signing a document,” Trump told the newspaper.
The United States is a party to the 1951 treaty, which gives it broad rights to establish military bases in Denmark and Greenland with their consent.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Vice President, JD Vance, He told reporters that European leaders should “take the U.S. president seriously” as he framed the issue as a defense one.
“What we’re asking our European friends to do is take the security of this continent more seriously because if they don’t, the United States is going to have to take action,” Vance said.
But the administration is starting to hear objections from lawmakers, including some Republicans, to Trump’s plans for the territory.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, warned in a speech Thursday that comments from some in the Trump administration were “extremely disturbing.”
“We still have a lot to do in 2026,” Murkowski said. “Greenland — either occupying Greenland or buying Greenland — should not be on this list. This should not be an obsession at the highest levels of this administration.”
Danish officials are hopeful about upcoming talks with Rubio in Washington.
“This is the required dialogue that the government and the Greenlandic government both demand,” Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told Danish broadcaster DR.
80% of Greenland lies above the Arctic Circle and is home to about 56,000 people, the majority of whom live in Greenland. Inuit.
Vance criticizes Denmark
Vance said on Wednesday that Denmark was “clearly” not doing a proper job protecting Greenland and that Trump was “willing to do whatever he can” to defend U.S. interests in the Arctic.
during an interview fox News, Vance reiterated Trump’s statement that Greenland is critical to the national security of the United States and the world because “the entire missile defense infrastructure is partially dependent on Greenland.”
He said the fact that Denmark had been a loyal military ally of the United States during World War II and more recently during the “war on terror” did not necessarily mean they were doing enough to ensure Greenland’s security today.
“Just because you did something smart 25 years ago, doesn’t mean you can’t do something stupid now,” Vance said, adding that Trump “made it very clear, ‘You’re not doing a good job with Greenland.'”
right to self-determination
Previously, Rubio Tell A select group of U.S. lawmakers say the Republican administration’s ultimate goal is to buy Greenland, not use military force.
“Many Greenlanders consider these remarks disrespectful,” Aaja Chemnitz, one of two Greenlandic politicians in the Danish parliament, told The Associated Press. “Many people also feel that these conversations are taking place in their minds. We have a firm saying in Greenland: ‘No Greenland, no Greenland.'”
Most Greenlanders “want more self-determination, including independence,” she said, but also want “increased cooperation with our partners” on security and commercial development, as long as that cooperation is based on “mutual respect and recognition of our right to self-determination.”
Chemnitz rejected Trump’s claim that Greenland is “full of Russian and Chinese ships.”
Greenland is “a long-standing ally and partner of the United States, and we share a common interest in stability, security and responsible cooperation in the Arctic,” she said. “There is an agreement with the United States that they can establish a base in Greenland if needed.”
French President Emmanuel Macron has denounced the “law of the strongest” which leaves people “in doubt as to whether Greenland will be invaded”.
Speaking to the French ambassador at the Elysee presidential palace on Thursday, Macron said: “This is the greatest chaos, the most powerful law, and every day people wonder whether Greenland will be invaded, whether Canada will be threatened by becoming the 51st state (of the United States), or whether Taiwan will be further surrounded.”
He pointed out that the world is “increasingly dysfunctional” and that major powers, including the United States and China, “do have the temptation to divide the world.”
Macron said the United States was “gradually distancing itself from some allies and liberating itself from international rules.”
surveillance operations against the u.s.
The leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom joined Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Tuesday in defending Greenland’s sovereignty following Trump’s comments about Greenland. Greenland is part of the NATO military alliance.
After Vance Visit Greenland Last year, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen Posted a video Details the 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. Rasmussen said the U.S. military presence in Greenland has declined since 1945 from thousands of troops at 17 bases and installations on the island to about 200 troops today at the remote Pitufik Space Base in the northwest. The base supports U.S. and NATO missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations.
Rasmussen said the 1951 agreement “provided ample opportunity for an enhanced U.S. military presence in Greenland.” “If that’s your wish, then let’s discuss it.”
“Greenland’s Military Defense”
Last year, the Danish parliament approved a bill allowing the United States to establish military bases on Danish soil. The legislation expands a previous military agreement with the Biden administration in 2023 that gave U.S. troops broad access to Danish air bases in the Scandinavian country.
Denmark is also working hard to strengthen its military presence around Greenland and the wider North Atlantic.
Last year, the government announced a 14.6 billion kronor ($2.3 billion) deal with parties including Greenland and another Danish autonomous territory, the Faroe Islands, to “increase capabilities to monitor and maintain sovereignty in the region.”
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Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim, Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.