Officials from Greenland and Denmark have met in Washington with top White House officials over President Donald Trump’s push to take over Greenland.

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio participated in the hourlong talks with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt to discuss Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.

The meeting came as Trump moved to ramp up the pressure by suggesting that NATO should help the United States acquire the world’s largest island and saying anything less than it being under American control is unacceptable.

However, a few hours before the officials sat down, Trump reiterated on his social media site that the US “needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security.” He added that “NATO should be leading the way for us to get it” and that otherwise Russia or China would “AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!”

“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES. Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
Donald Trump

In response, Greenland’s representatives to the US and Canada posted on social media, “Why don’t you ask us?” and noted the low percentage of island residents who favor becoming part of the US.

Greenland is strategically important because, as climate change causes the ice to melt, it opens up the possibility of shorter trade routes to Asia.

That also could make it easier to extract and transport untapped deposits of critical minerals which are needed for computers and phones.

Trump said in his post that Greenland is “vital” to the United States’ Golden Dome missile defense program.

He also has said that he wants the island to expand America’s security and has cited what he says is the threat from Russian and Chinese ships as a reason to control it.But both experts and Greenlanders question that claim.

Later today, Løkke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt, along with Denmark’s Ambassador to the US, are due to meet with Senators from the Arctic Caucus in Congress.

A bipartisan delegation of US lawmakers is also heading to Copenhagen later this week to meet Danish and Greenlandic officials.

Disagreement Over Greenland Remains

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told reporters after joining Greenland’s Foreign Minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, for the talks that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with President Donald Trump after holding highly anticipated White House talks 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 US 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

He added that it remains “clear that the President has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”

Both Løkke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt offered measured hope that the talks were beginning a conversation that would lead to Trump dropping his demand and create a path for tighter cooperation with the US. “We have shown where our limits are and from there, I think that it will be very good to look forward,” Motzfeldt said.

Trump named Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as a Special Envoy to Greenland last month. Landry did not attend Wednesday’s meeting, but his spokesperson said that he was scheduled to travel to Washington on Thursday and Friday for meetings that include the topic of Greenland.