The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland on Wednesday indicated that they had not dissuaded President Donald Trump and his administration from trying to illegally seize their territory.

Shortly after a meeting at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenlander Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt indicated that little had changed after the two parties spoke for less than two hours about the self-governing Danish territory.

“We didn’t manage to change the American position,” Rasmussen told reporters. “It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”

He then said that Denmark wants to “work with our American friends and allies,” but warned that “it must be respectful cooperation.”

Danish Foreign Minister Rasmussen:

“We didn’t manage to change the administration position. It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland."
pic.twitter.com/omrHSwzNkR
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) January 14, 2026

Motzfeldt, meanwhile, said that she and her Danish counterpart used the meeting with Vance and Rubio to show “where our limits are,” while also expressing a “hope for mutual understanding” between the two parties in any future talks.

Q: What did Trump’s team say when you told them that you can’t just take over a nation? Did they appreciate that perspective?

GREENLAND FOREIGN MINISTER: I don’t want to say what we discussed in the closed meeting room, but I’d like to have hope for more mutual understanding pic.twitter.com/thNP5LK5bH
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 14, 2026

While taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump was asked directly if he would respect the limits set out by Greenland, and he indicated that he would not.

“Well, we’re gonna see what happens with Greenland,” the president said. “We need Greenland for national security… If we don’t go in, Russia is gonna go in and China is gonna go in. And there’s not a thing that Denmark can do about it. But we can do everything about it. We’re going to see what happens, but we need it.”

Q: Are Greenland’s limits going to be respected?

TRUMP: Well, we’re gonna see what happens with Greenland. We need Greenland for national security. If we don’t go in Russia is gonna go in and China is gonna go in. And there’s not a thing that Denmark can do about it. But we can… pic.twitter.com/cH7yQypMYj
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 14, 2026

In fact, since Greenland is part of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO), the US would be obligated to defend it in the event that Russia or China launched an invasion.

As Trump has refused to back down from his threats to invade the territory of a longtime US ally, other European countries have started announcing troop deployments to Greenland to act as a potential deterrent.

In a social media post, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson revealed that “several officers from the Swedish Armed Forces are arriving in Greenland today” at Denmark’s request to take part in an exercise dubbed Operation Arctic Endurance.

According to Le Monde, both France and Germany, two of the largest military powers in Europe, have also agreed to send troops to Greenland at Denmark’s request. Canada and the Netherlands also pledged to send forces to help carry out the training exercise, Newsweek reported.

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