Overview
- Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are meeting Denmark’s Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland’s Vivian Motzfeldt at the White House to address the dispute after President Trump warned Greenland’s leader faces a “big problem” and repeated that the U.S. would take the island “one way or the other.”
- Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen reaffirmed that the territory is not for sale, declaring “we choose Denmark,” while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen cautioned that any use of force could imperil NATO.
- Congress is split: Rep. Jimmy Gomez proposed the Greenland Sovereignty Protection Act to block funds for any takeover, Rep. Randy Fine introduced a bill authorizing “whatever steps necessary” toward annexation or statehood, and Senators Lisa Murkowski and Jeanne Shaheen unveiled a bipartisan measure to bar seizing a NATO ally’s territory without consent.
- European partners have rallied behind Copenhagen’s position, with France announcing a new consulate in Greenland as NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte avoided direct comment and emphasized a focus on Arctic security.
- Residents in Nuuk and Greenland’s minister Naaja Nathanielsen said the island is not for sale and described widespread anxiety, while locals and experts disputed Trump’s claims of Russian and Chinese ships near Greenland; the U.S. already operates the Pituffik base under existing agreements.