Danish Foreign Minister says there's a 'fundamental disagreement' with Trump over Greenland

(14 Jan 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

++SHOTS SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASHES++
++BEGINS AND ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington, DC - 14 January 2026
(THUMBNAIL: ASSOCIATED PRESS, Washington, DC, 14 January 2026, Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference. John McDonnell. #26014685768739)
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Foreign Minister of Denmark:
"We, the Kingdom of Denmark, continue to believe that also the long-term security of Greenland can be ensured inside the current framework - the 1951 agreement on the defense of Greenland, as well as the NATO treaty. For us, ideas that would not respect territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right of self-determination of the Greenlandic people are of course totally unacceptable and we therefore still have a fundamental disagreement but we also agree to disagree and therefore we will however continue to talk. We have decided to form a high-level working group to explore if we can find a common way forward."
++WHITE FLASH++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Foreign Minister of Denmark:
"There's clearly a disagreement. We agreed that it makes sense to try to sit down on a high level to explore whether there are possibilities to accommodate the concerns of the president while we, at the same time, respect the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark. So this is the work we will start. Whether that is doable, I don't know. I hope, and I would like to express that, that it could take, you know, down the temperature."
++WHITE FLASH++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Foreign Minister of Denmark:
"It is of course is very emotional for all of us. And of course, particularly for people living up in Greenland, but also for people in Denmark."
++WHITE FLASH++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Vivian Motzfeldt, Foreign Minister of Greenland:
"I think it's very important to say it again, that how important it is from all sides to strengthen our cooperation with the United States. But that doesn't mean that we want to be owned by the United States."
++WHITE FLASH++
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Vivian Motzfeldt, Foreign Minister of Greenland:
"We are allies. We are friends. We have been cooperating in in many, many years. We have history together, so it's all ours interest to find the right balance."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
A top Danish official said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with President Donald Trump after highly anticipated talks in Washington with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The two sides, however, agreed to create a working group to discuss ways to work through differences as Trump continues to call for a U.S. takeover of the semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.

“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told reporters after joining Greenland’s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, for the talks.

Trump is trying to make the case that NATO should help the U.S. acquire the world's largest island and says anything less than it being under American control is unacceptable.

Denmark has announced plans to boost the country's military presence in the Arctic and North Atlantic as Trump tries to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover of the vast territory by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their designs on Greenland.









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