The Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers, Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Vivian Motzfeldt, at the Danish embassy in Washington, on January 14, 2026. ANDREW LEYDEN/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Greenland now sits at the center of the world. With the United States having repeatedly asserted its intention to take control of the autonomous territory that is under Denmark's sovereignty, the architecture of transatlantic relations has been rocked to its foundations.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, were in Washington on Wednesday, January 14, for a crisis meeting at the White House. There, they met with US Vice President JD Vance, who was not originally scheduled to attend, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
As they left, the two visitors spoke to the press outside the Danish embassy. Their faces bore grave expressions. Beneath the standard diplomatic phrases, such as calling the meeting a "frank discussion among equal partners," Rasmussen showed signs of distress in the face of the hostile US administration. "We therefore still have a fundamental disagreement," he said, admitting that he was powerless to change his hosts' position. "It's clear that the president [Donald Trump] has this wish of conquering Greenland."
