Germany, France, and Sweden agreed to join a Denmark-led military mission to Greenland on Wednesday, amid US President Donald Trump’s escalating threats to annex the mineral-rich Arctic island.
The news came after Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said that “frank” talks at the White House had failed to allay “fundamental disagreements” between the US, Denmark and Greenland over the autonomous territory’s future, as per AFP.
Just hours before the White House meeting, Trump appeared to call on NATO to get Denmark out of Greenland in a Truth Social post.
“Two dogsleds won’t do it! Only the USA can!!!” the US president wrote – apparently suggesting that Denmark’s $14 billion investment in Greenlandic security will be inadequate to deter Russian and Chinese aggression.
White House meeting
The meeting – attended by Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt on one side and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance on the other – was requested by Greenland and Denmark after repeated statements by Trump that the US is prepared to take Greenland by force to prevent Russia or China from doing so.
“We didn’t manage to change the American position. It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland,” Rasmussen told a press conference afterwards – adding that a US takeover is “absolutely not necessary” to the island’s defense.
Based on Trump’s comments on social media, Copenhagen and Nuuk will face an uphill battle convincing Trump of this. Earlier on Wednesday, the US president appeared to cast doubt on NATO’s ability even to defend itself.
“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” he wrote. “Militarily, without the vast power of the United States, much of which I built during my first term, and am now bringing to a new and even higher level, NATO would not be an effective force or deterrent - Not even close! They know that, and so do I.”
In the meantime, Denmark’s European and NATO allies are doing what they can to prove him wrong.
Operation Arctic Endurance
Earlier on Wednesday, Denmark’s defense ministry announced plans to increase Denmark’s military presence in the far North “in close cooperation with NATO allies.” Hours later, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson confirmed the arrival of Swedish military officers in Greenland as part of Operation Arctic Endurance.
In the immediate aftermath of the White House meeting, Germany and France followed suit. As per AFP, Berlin will on Thursday deploy a 13-strong Bundeswehr reconnaissance team to “explore the framework conditions for possible military contributions to support Denmark in ensuring security in the region.”
Paris has yet to specify how many personnel it will contribute, but the UK will also contribute one officer to the operation, as per Bloomberg. A European diplomat reportedly told Politico that Canadian troops will also take part.
Denmark and its Arctic and European allies plan to “explore how an increased presence and exercise activity in the Arctic can be carried out in concrete terms,” Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said.