Denmark to push back on US Greenland demands as protests planned

Sara Sjolin, Bloomberg News on Jan 15, 2026

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Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she’ll continue to push back against American efforts to take over Greenland after a high-level meeting failed to defuse U.S. threats over the future of the Arctic island.

The continued demands from President Donald Trump have sparked anger and distrust among Greenlanders and Danes, with protests planned across the major cities on Saturday.

“It was not an easy meeting,” Frederiksen said in written comments on Thursday, referring to talks the previous day by Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

There is still “a fundamental disagreement, because the American ambition to take over Greenland remains intact,” she said, echoing comments from her top diplomat, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, after the talks. “This is, of course, serious, and therefore we will continue our efforts to prevent that scenario from becoming reality,” Frederiksen said.

Her remarks underscore the growing tensions over Greenland — a semi-autonomous territory under the Kingdom of Denmark — which Trump has stated he needs for national security. A group of North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries, including Germany, France and the U.K., have unveiled a military presence on the island this week to support Denmark’s efforts to ensure security in the region.

At Wednesday’s meeting in Washington the diplomats agreed on establishing a working group to discuss how security in the Arctic can be strengthened. Having a direct channel open for communications with the Americans was key for the Danes and Greenlanders.

Still, demonstrations have been announced in Copenhagen, Nuuk and three other major Danish cities to send a signal to the U.S. administration that Greenland can’t be annexed or bought.