In Washington on Wednesday, a Danish delegation discussed the future of the world’s largest island at the White House. There was no agreement. Meanwhile, Donald Trump continued to fire things up.
Jan 15, 2026, 05:16Jan 15, 2026, 05:16
Renzo Ruf, Washington, Niels Anner, Copenhagen / ch media
That went well again. When the debate about Greenland in the White House was over, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen sprinted to his official car on Wednesday, where he quickly lit a cigarette.
Then the veteran politician also offered Vivian Motzfeldt a cigarette. The Greenland government’s chief diplomat gratefully grabbed it in a parking lot in the middle of Washington. Both Rasmussen and Motzfeldt seemed relieved, as if they had been able to prevent the worst at the last minute, in discussions with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Lars Løkke Rasmussen offers Vivian Motzfeldt a glow stick.x
The White House continues to fire up
A few hours before the meeting began, American President Donald Trump made further threatening gestures against Greenland’s protective power, Denmark. On the Internet service Truth Social, he accused Copenhagen of neglecting the defense of the world’s largest island. That is why ships from Russia and China are now allegedly present in Greenland. Ultimately, however, the USA is the only country that can defend the island, Trump wrote.
“Anything other than US control is unacceptable.”
The American President also said once again that Greenland is indispensable for his country’s security, as he wants to set up a missile shield over the entire North American continent. Trump calls this ambitious, billion-dollar project the “Golden Dome”. NATO, said the American president, is dependent on Greenland being in the hands of the USA in the future, because this is the only way the defense alliance can fend off future provocations from Russia or China.
And as if these weren’t enough provocations against a loyal ally, the White House also published a cartoon about Greenland on the Internet service X. It shows two sled dog teams standing at a snow-covered intersection and having to decide which way they want to go.
The White House Post.Image: x
On the left the White House is waiting for them in a sunbath, on the right a mishmash of Chinese and Russian buildings and sights with a thunderstorm raging above them. The implicit message: The status quo, the existing alliance between Denmark and Greenland, is no longer an option. Greenland must choose between Washington and Moscow and Beijing. At least that’s the White House’s view.
Trump was not present at the actual meeting with the delegation from Denmark and Greenland. It didn’t take place directly in the White House, but in an office building on the grounds of the presidential home and work house in Washington – allegedly because Vance really wanted to take part in the conversation.
The debate lasted around an hour and took place in an atmosphere that was “good but serious,” as the Danish media reported on Wednesday. But the crisis does not seem to be over yet. “We still have a real disagreement,” Rasmussen said at a news conference in Washington.
For the Danish foreign minister, the meeting was a return to Washington. When he was still serving as Prime Minister of his country, Lars Løkke Rasmussen was one of the first visitors from Europe that Donald Trump received at the White House in spring 2017. The neo-president showered his guest with compliments at the time: “Very good ally, great ally,” Trump said of Denmark. “Great people.” The meeting in the Oval Office was so unspectacular that the New York Times didn’t mention it the day after.
Denmark increases troop presence
Denmark and its European NATO partners began arming in Greenland just before the meeting in Washington. On Wednesday, Danish advance troops and officers from other countries landed in the capital Nuuk. They should make preparations so that more soldiers, warships and aircraft can be relocated to Greenland in the coming weeks – Scandinavian ones, but also those from other NATO partners. In the near future, they will hold joint exercises in and around Greenland, including protecting critical infrastructure and controlling the polar sea region.
Security in the Arctic is of crucial importance for the Danish kingdom as well as the allies, said Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.
In particular, France, Germany, Great Britain and Sweden have recently repeatedly supported Denmark and Greenland politically and rejected Trump’s threats. The EU leadership had also declared that the future of Greenland would be decided solely by the residents of the island and the Danish kingdom.
According to security experts, the fact that additional troops, including those from NATO, are now being deployed is not intended to be a deterrent against a possible military strike by the USA. Rather, it is about signaling to Donald Trump that NATO takes seriously and wants to guarantee the defense of the Arctic island against any threats from Russia or China. (aargauerzeitung.ch)