What to watch as Trump’s team prepares for Denmark meeting
The Greenlandic Flag, nationally known as “Erfalasorput”, flies over houses in Nuuk, Greenland on March 28, 2025.
Leon Neal | Getty Images
The Trump administration is preparing for a high-stakes meeting with Danish officials next week to discuss how the United States could buy the world’s largest island.
The White House’s frequent talk of seizing control of Greenland following the weekend military operation to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has raised alarm in Europe about Washington’s regional ambitions.
President Donald Trump, who has long wanted Greenland to become part of the United States, said the mineral-rich and sparsely populated island was an integral part of national security and emphasized that he was “very serious” about seizing it.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has since called on Trump to “stop the threats”, while the Greenland leader described the idea of US control over the region as a “fantasy”.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that he plans to meet with senior government officials next week to discuss the situation. This followed a request from Danish Foreign Minister Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt.
CNBC covers four important issues ahead of the meeting.
Military action or island purchase
Speaking on Wednesday, a reporter asked Rubio if he would drop the option of using the U.S. military to seize Greenland.
“I’m not here to talk about Denmark or military intervention,” Rubio said. he said and reiterated plans to meet with Danish officials next week. “We’ll talk to them then, but I won’t add anything more to it today.”
Trump’s comments came as the White House confirmed that Trump and his national security team were “actively” discussing a possible bid to buy Greenland and that all options, including military force, remained on the table, although diplomacy was always the first option.
Trump previously wanted to buy Greenland during the first term of his US presidency in 2019, but was told that the island was not for sale.
Meanwhile, the possibility of a US military intervention in Greenland triggered a strong reaction from Denmark’s Frederiksen.
“I believe that the president of the United States should be taken seriously when he says he wants Greenland,” Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster TV2 on Monday, according to CNBC’s translation. he said.
“But I also want to make it clear that if the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops. This includes our NATO and therefore the security that has been provided since the end of World War II.”
Top Republican and Democratic lawmakers have also opposed the idea of using military force to seize Greenland.
European reaction
European leaders who had previously been reluctant to employ megaphone diplomacy to defend Greenland It changed direction at the beginning of the week.
“The Kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland, is part of NATO,” said a joint letter from many European leaders published on Tuesday.
“It belongs to the people of Greenland. It is up to Denmark and Greenland, and they alone, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”
Greenlandic Head of Government Jens-Frederik Nielsen speaks at a press conference in Nuuk, Greenland, on January 5, 2026. On January 5, 2026, after US President Donald Trump reiterated his desire to annex Greenland, the Danish prime minister warned that any US attack on a NATO ally would be the end of “everything”.
Oscar Scott Carl | Afp | Getty Images
Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard, senior researcher at the foreign policy and diplomacy department at the Danish Institute of International Studies, said diplomatic interaction should be the primary focus of European policymakers when they sit down with Rubio next week.
Other avenues European lawmakers should consider include more robust political statements, lobbying U.S. officials who do not want to see any military action in Greenland, and potentially threats of economic retaliation, Søndergaard said.
But he acknowledged there would be possible limitations for Europe in the worst-case scenario where the United States tries to seize Greenland by force, citing other security concerns for European countries, such as a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Greenland is an area that is not very easily defended militarily. There’s very little infrastructure and it’s obviously a very large island, so the idea of having some sort of military defense is not really what we’re looking at here,” Søndergaard told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Thursday.
Independence
Opinion polls previously showed that Greenlanders is overwhelmingly opposed It is under US control, while a strong majority supports independence from Denmark.
Tony Sage, chief executive of Critical Metals, which is developing one of the world’s largest rare earth assets in southern Greenland, said one aspect of the situation that seems to have been overlooked is that most Greenlanders are in favor of independence.
“I think I’ve personally had a lot of experience in Greenland over the last two years, but our partner, who’s been there for 20 years, knows the people very well. They’re very loyal and they want independence,” Sage told CNBC’s “The China Connection” on Thursday.
“So I believe that when they announce their referendum they will go for independence, and that’s where Denmark and the United States really need to confront the situation,” he continued. “If they go ahead with the referendum, who will be the biggest benefactor of this independence?”
Greenland, a self-governing region of Denmark with a population of about 57,000, was granted greater autonomy over its own affairs through a self-government law in 2009, but Denmark remains responsible for the island’s foreign and defense policies.
The law also gave the candidate the right to hold an independence referendum. Most Greenlandic political parties support independence, but they are divided on the pace of achieving it.
arctic security
Trump has suggested that Russia and China pose a security challenge for the United States in Greenland, as he once again sets his sights on the vast and sparsely populated Arctic island.
“This is very strategic,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. “Currently, every part of Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships. We need Greenland for national security.”
But analysts have questioned Trump’s claim that Greenland should be seized on national security grounds, while European leaders have said Arctic security is a goal that must be achieved collectively.
This photo, taken on January 7, 2026, shows the view of Aasiaat, Greenland, an autonomous region of Denmark.
Xinhua News Agency | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
Marion Messmer, director of the International Security Program at the Chatham House think tank in London, acknowledged that it was fair to say that both Russia and China have increased their military activities in the Arctic in recent years and would likely fly over Greenland if Moscow launched a missile at the United States.
“But it is not clear why Washington needs full control over Greenland to defend itself,” Messmer said. in question In a written analysis published Tuesday.
He noted that the United States already has a presence at the Pituffik Cosmodrome, as well as a decades-old defense agreement with Denmark that allows Washington to continue using it.
