U.S., Greenland and Denmark set for talks amid Trump takeover threats
U.S. President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance meet Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner (not pictured) and Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington D.C., June 27, 2025.
Ken Cedeno | Reuters
The Trump administration is poised for crunch talks with Greenlandic and Danish officials on Wednesday, amid the U.S. president’s ongoing push to take control of Greenland.
Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt and her Danish counterpart, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, are expected to convene at the White House for talks with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The high-stakes meeting comes shortly after Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen portrayed a united front against Trump’s repeated takeover threats.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Copenhagen on Tuesday, Greenland’s Nielsen said that if the self-governing Danish territory must choose between the U.S. and Denmark, “we choose Denmark.”
Frederiksen also said it had not been easy to stand up to what she described as “completely unacceptable pressure” from our closest ally. “But there is much to suggest that the hardest part is still ahead of us.”
Trump, who has long coveted making Greenland a part of the United States, renewed his interest in the vast and mineral-rich Arctic island following an audacious U.S. military operation in Venezuela on Jan. 3.
The U.S. president has said that the island, which is strategically situated between Europe and North America, is vital “from the standpoint of national security.”
Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One in recent days, Trump said the U.S. would take control of Greenland “one way or the other,” even if it strains the relationship within the NATO military alliance.
Trump’s comments have raised alarm in Denmark, which is responsible for the defense of Greenland, with Frederiksen cautioning that a U.S. attack would mark the end of NATO.
Defense and resources
Ian Lesser, distinguished fellow at GMF, a Washington-based think tank, said the stakes were “very high” for the talks, warning that failure to resolve the diplomatic crisis “does not just threaten NATO cohesion, it threatens the future existence of the Alliance as we know it.”
The meeting will likely seek to clarify the prospects for and potential contours of a negotiated settlement of the crisis, Lesser said.
Greenland’s Head of Government (Naalakkersuisut) Jens-Frederik Nielsen (L) and Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen give a statement on the current situation at a press conference in the Mirror Hall at the Prime Minister’s Office in Copenhagen, Denmark, on January 13, 2026.
Liselotte Sabroe | Afp | Getty Images
“There could be new European commitments to strengthening the defence of Greenland, and more important, the surrounding maritime space. There might also be parallel talks around new and preferential US access to Greenland’s resources,” Lesser told CNBC by email.
“Or, the meeting could end in acrimony,” he added.
The prospect of a public fallout between U.S. and European officials at the White House brings to mind a highly contentious meeting between Trump, Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February last year.
Trump and Vance accused Zelenskyy of a lack of respect as the meeting veered sharply off track, devolving into an extraordinary shouting match live on camera.
‘A profound crisis’
Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, said he does not expect the U.S., Greenland, and Denmark to be able to find a diplomatic solution on Wednesday, describing the situation as “a profound crisis.”
“I think there was a significant change, I think it was yesterday, when it was announced in Washington that JD Vance, the vice president, was going to take over the meeting,” Bildt told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Wednesday.
“It was scheduled to be with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has indicated a slightly milder approach, but JD Vance has, of course, been directly insulting towards Denmark and demanding very strange things,” Bildt said.
“I expect a fairly hard meeting. I don’t expect any resolution. At best, I expect that they will initiate the process of talks of some sort,” he added.
Bildt, who serves as co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, referred to JD Vance’s remarks at the Munich Security Conference in February last year, saying his “rather extraordinary” analysis of Europe was more in line with the “extreme right” of the region.
“This is not the trans-Atlantic alliance we used to have,” he added.
What would a good outcome look like?
Otto Svendsen, associate fellow with…
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