Posted on 01/14/2026 9:15:48 PM PST by SeekAndFind
On Wednesday, after a closed-door meeting with American officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen held a press conference. His remarks sounded cautiously optimistic.
Denmark will join a high-level working group to discuss Greenland's future after talks at the White House with senior Trump administration officials.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told a press conference Wednesday that the closed-door meeting, attended by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was a "frank but also constructive" discussion and an opportunity to "challenge the narrative presented by the American president."
The narrative presented by the American president, as we've been reporting, is that Greenland should become an American possession. Needless to say, Denmark and Greenland aren't keen on the idea.
President Donald Trump has showed no sign of cooling his Arctic ambitions, vowing to take control of Greenland “one way or the other,” citing concerns it could be vulnerable to Russia or China. The White House has refused to rule out military action to seize Greenland from Denmark, alarming allies and rattling the NATO alliance.
While it seems highly unlikely that the United States would attempt to take Greenland by force, the big island does in fact occupy a vital strategic position in the North Atlantic; it's something worth trying to make a deal over.
The Danish Foreign Minister seems to think some kind of rapprochement is possible, but both he and Greenland's minister stop short of Greenland's status changing vis-a-vis being a semi-autonomous possession of Denmark.
Rasmussen said a high-level working group would be formed and meet within weeks "to explore if we can find a common way forward" on security while respecting Denmark's red lines, referring to demands for U.S. ownership of the vast, semi-autonomous territory as “totally unacceptable.”“Whether that is doable, I don't know, but I hope it could take down the temperature,” he added.
Greenland’s minister of foreign affairs, Vivian Motzfeldt, said strengthening cooperation “doesn’t mean we want to be owned by the United States,” adding: “We have shown where our limits are.”
President Trump has been insistent on taking Greenland as an American possession, but it's unclear whether or not this is some "Art of the Deal" move on the president's part. An agreement to increase the American military presence on the island, along with some kind of deal over oil/gas extraction and mining, seems much more likely.
It would benefit the United States and Greenland as well, while providing some extra security in the area. And the location is likely to become more important in the coming years, as Chinese interest in the Arctic and their cooperation with Russia are both increasing; Russia, remember, owns almost half of the Arctic Ocean's shoreline, and Greenland sits astride the largest oceanic access point to the Arctic.
As for Greenland, its stance is clear:
Ahead of the meeting, Greenland Prime Minister Jens-FrederikNielsen made his stance clear.“Greenland does not want to be owned by the USA. Greenland does not want to be governed by the USA. Greenland will not be part of the USA. We choose the Greenland we know today, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he said in a news conference Tuesday with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Copenhagen.
“Now we are faced with a geopolitical crisis, and if we have to choose between the USA and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark.”
As of this writing, no further meetings have yet been scheduled. Stay tuned.
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“Art of the Deal”
I’m interested in the earlier report that some EU countries are going to send troops to Greenland.
But where? And why? And what skills?
Trump doesn’t want to embarrass the EU and Denmark, but he will if he has to.
And I bet he kinda wants to.
Greenland is a part of the kingdom of Denmark. If it is actually a possession of the kingdom, then the kingdom may simply reassign the land to individuals within the kingdom or sell the land outright. In the United States model the people typically own the land. The country cannot confiscate your property.... Without due process. I will put my money on it that the kingdom will sell the people of Greenland out and I am betting the people of Greenland understand they are now up for sale to the highest bidder. If they are smart.... They will choose the United States
Greenland is a part of the kingdom of Denmark. If it is actually a possession of the kingdom, then the kingdom may simply reassign the land to individuals within the kingdom or sell the land outright.
Whatever happened to “No More Kings!”
The negotiations to purchase the Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917 took several years.
I get it, that’s how we get Canada! Brilliant!
The people of Greenland are Inuit. They make their living by fishing but could use more opportunities. As it happens, part of the Inuit population is also in Canada.
Imagine how cool it would be, if you were an Inuit, if the land of your people could actually be recognized and known by its Inuit name. As woke as the Danes are they haven’t even allowed the Inuit that small dignity.
Allows military full access and change name to Trumpland.
Officially....88-percent of Greenlanders are Inuit...other 12-percent...European or ‘other’.
Polling folks often ends up confusing folks. If you poll strictly 16-to-25 year olds...they want ‘change’ (meaning US status...more opportunities...less Dane influence). The over-40 crowd are exact opposite.
Up until 2018...tourism was almost zero. Rebuilt airport...tourism efforts...in past 3 years, created 1,800 tourism related jobs, with 100k tourists flowing yearly.
Even if Trump is successful...what you don’t want is unfiltered entry and the island going from 50-odd thousand residents to 250,000 in ten years.
Present treaties allow the USA wide latitude in putting bases in Greenland. The biggie in the future will be missile defense bases all around Greenland, as Greenland is the optimal location to defend from Russian land based ICBM’s, which are almost all located such that attacks on the US would fly over parts of Greenland.
However, those bases will need, themselves, to be defended - a pretty big project / effort indeed. The price will be pretty steep.
How many troops, sailors, ships, etc., will be needed for this defense? 40,000? The environment is harsh. What are we looking at? 2x the average cost per person of keeping US troops in Europe, ships nearby, etc.?
I would propose that for every US defender we put in or around Greenland, per present treaties and agreements, we pull 2 out of Europe. To the degree that NATO countries add to Greenland’s defense, for every defender they send to Greenland, we will keep 2 in Europe.
Will this make Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen happy? How about the other NATO countries?
“Greenland’s minister of foreign affairs, Vivian Motzfeldt, said strengthening cooperation “doesn’t mean we want to be owned by the United States,” adding: “We have shown where our limits are.”
Is that the gal who was jonesing so much for a cigarette that she lit up about 30 seconds after exiting the White House? Come on, Trump, get creative... Call the honchos at Philip Morris USA and tell them to offer her a 10-year supply of Marlboros, Virginia Slims etc... the Art of the Deal, baby.
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