European troops continued arriving in Greenland on Thursday as a show of support for Denmark, even as high-level talks in Washington revealed a “fundamental disagreement” over U.S. President Donald Trump’s goal of acquiring the Arctic island.
The diplomatic rift widened Thursday when the White House characterized upcoming discussions with Danish and Greenlandic officials as “technical talks on the acquisition agreement.”
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen offered a starkly different interpretation, describing the initiative as a working group intended to bridge differences.
“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,” Rasmussen said following a Wednesday meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The troop deployments follow Denmark’s announcement that it would bolster its military presence on the island. Several European partners, including France, Germany, the U.K., Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands, have begun sending symbolic units or pledged to do so.
The movements are intended to project European unity and signal to the Trump administration that NATO can collectively secure the Arctic against Russian and Chinese interests without an American takeover of the territory.
The White House remained unmoved by the military displays. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday the deployments would not impact the president’s decision-making.
“The president has made his priority quite clear, that he wants the United States to acquire Greenland,” Leavitt said. “He thinks it’s in our best national security to do that.”
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed the continued diplomacy but remained firm on the island’s sovereignty.
“Greenland is not for sale,” Nielsen said Thursday. “Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed from the United States.”
In Nuuk, the capital, some residents viewed the arrival of European reinforcements as a safeguard against potential U.S. military action, though European officials have not framed the mission as a deterrent against an ally.
“It’s comforting to know that the Nordic countries are sending reinforcements,” said Maya Martinsen, 21. She suggested the dispute is driven by Greenland’s untapped oil and mineral resources rather than national security.
The military build-up appears set to expand. Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said Thursday that Denmark intends to establish a more permanent presence through a rotation system involving several NATO countries.
While Poulsen called the new working group a “step in the right direction,” he cautioned that “the danger has not passed.”
In Washington, Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt also met with a bipartisan group of U.S. senators. Lawmakers from both parties have expressed concern that the administration’s focus on Greenland could strain the NATO alliance, with some Republicans urging the White House to focus on enhanced security cooperation instead of acquisition.
Asked about the situation Thursday, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: “We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out.”
