Washington, Jan 14 (UNI) After Greenland chose Denmark as its preferred partner rather than the United States, a blunt rebuke to President Donald Trump’s push to take control of the vast Arctic island ahead of high-stakes talks with senior White House officials, Trump on Tuesday dismissed the statement and warned it could become “a big problem.”
The remarks come ahead of a meeting on Wednesday at the White House between Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The talks were sought by Danish and Greenlandic officials following Trump’s recent escalation of rhetoric over Greenland.
Trump’s statement came after Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielson said the self-governing Danish territory would stand with Denmark and NATO amid Washington’s renewed push to take control of the vast Arctic island.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he disagreed with Nielsen’s position and claimed he was unfamiliar with him. “Well, that is their problem. I disagree with them. I don’t know who he is. Don’t know anything about him. But that is going to be a big problem for him,” Trump said.
Nielsen made his remarks at a joint news conference in Copenhagen alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, delivering a blunt rebuke to Trump’s rhetoric ahead of high-stakes talks with senior White House officials. “We are now facing a geopolitical crisis, and if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark,” Nielsen said. “We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU.”
Greenland’s coalition government also rejected any suggestion of a US takeover, calling it unacceptable “under any circumstances.” It stressed that as part of the Danish commonwealth, Greenland is a member of NATO and that its defence must therefore be handled through the alliance.
Greenland, the world’s largest island, has been a semi-autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark since 1953. Leaders in both Denmark and Greenland have repeatedly rejected any suggestion that the island could be sold or annexed, emphasising that Greenland’s future must be determined by its own people.
Trump has repeatedly argued that Greenland is critical to US national security and has warned that Russia or China could seek to expand their influence in the Arctic.
“If we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will take Greenland, and I am not going to let that happen,” Trump said on Sunday
Over the weekend, he reiterated that the United States would acquire Greenland “one way or another,” saying Washington would prefer to act “the easy way” but would pursue “the hard way” if necessary to prevent Moscow or Beijing from gaining a foothold in the region.
