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The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland are set to meet on Wednesday with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio amid renewed pressure from President Donald Trump over the future of the Arctic island.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he and Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt requested the meeting after Trump intensified rhetoric about taking control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
“U.S. Vice President JD Vance also wanted to participate in the meeting, and he will host the meeting, which will therefore be held at the White House,” Rasmussen told reporters Tuesday in Copenhagen.
“Our reason for seeking the meeting we have now been given was to move this whole discussion… into a meeting room where we can look each other in the eye and talk about these things,” he added.
President Trump first raised the idea of the United States acquiring Greenland in 2019, during his first term. In recent weeks, the president has renewed those comments, citing U.S. national security interests in the Arctic.
Greenland has been under Danish rule for centuries, but has steadily expanded its autonomy since 1979. Independence currently remains a long-term goal shared by the political parties represented in Greenland’s parliament.
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said he will take part in a separate meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels next week to discuss Arctic security, along with Greenland’s Motzfeldt.
Denmark plans to increase its military presence in Greenland, with other NATO countries expected to participate in exercises and training in 2026, Poulsen said.
“It has been a Danish priority over the past several years to have a discussion within NATO, but not least to also get greater attention from NATO in relation to issues regarding NATO’s presence in and around the Arctic,” Poulsen said.
The move also comes as Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., introduced the Greenland Annexation and Statehood Act on Monday, which would authorize the president to take steps to annex or acquire Greenland as a territory of the United States.