Rubio to discuss Greenland 'takeover' with Danish officials amid Trump's threats

The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said on Wednesday that he plans to meet with Danish officials next week to discuss Greenland amid President Trump’s threat to take over the Arctic territory. The remarks from Rubio came after the foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark requested an urgent meeting.

The European nation has maintained that any invasion or seizure of the territory by its Nato ally would mark the end of the Western military alliance and “post-second world war security”. While speaking over the matter to Washington, Rubio did not specify if the Trump administration was willing to risk losing an ally and if they are assessing the option to gain control of the territory using forces.

“I’m not here to talk about Denmark or military intervention, I’ll be meeting with them next week,” he said. “We’ll have those conversations with them then, but I don’t have anything further to add to that.” Every US president retains the option of addressing national security threats through military means, he said.

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Meanwhile, France said on Tuesday that it was working with allies on how to react if the US were to invade Greenland. “We want to take action, but we want to do so together with our European partners,” the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, told France Inter radio.

The US is still keeping diplomatic options open

While speaking to the reporters, Rubio noted that Trump had been talking about acquiring Greenland since his first term. “That’s always been the president’s intent from the very beginning,” he said. “He’s not the first US president who has examined or looked at how we could acquire Greenland.”

Meanwhile, the White House has maintained that Trump preferred diplomacy but would not rule out military action. “That’s something that’s currently being actively discussed by the president and his national security team,” the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said when asked about a possible US offer to buy the territory from Denmark. “The president has been very open and clear … that he views it in the best interest of the United States to deter Russian and Chinese aggression in the Arctic region, and so that’s why his team is currently talking about what a potential purchase would look like,” she averred.

When asked if the US had refused to rule out military action, she replied: “I know that past presidents and past leaders have often ruled things out. They’ve often been very open about ruling things in and basically broadcasting their foreign policy strategy to the rest of the world – not just to our allies, but most egregiously to our adversaries. That’s not something this president does."

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“All options are always on the table … But I will just say that the president’s first option always has been diplomacy," she added. During a separate press briefing. Leavitt was pressed on what the US would gain by controlling Greenland, to which she responded: “More control over the Arctic region and ensuring that China and Russia and our adversaries cannot continue their aggression in this very important and strategic region."

Starmer attempts to persuade Trump

Meanwhile, the UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer “set out his position on Greenland” in a phone conversation with Trump on Wednesday evening. Downing Street confirmed the news without giving further details of the call.

It is pertinent to note that Starmer has repeatedly said the territory’s future must be a matter for Greenland and Denmark alone, including in the Commons on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Trump said on the same day that the US would not desert Nato in a backhanded social media post that also criticised the alliance.

“We will always be there for Nato, even if they won’t be there for us,” he wrote on Truth Social. Russia and China would “have zero fear” of Nato without the US, he said. Addressing “all of those big Nato fans”, he added: “They were at 2 per cent GDP, and most weren’t paying their bills, UNTIL I CAME ALONG.”

On Tuesday, one of Trump’s leading aides said that the US may be willing to seize control of the Arctic territory by force. Soon after the news became public, European leaders rallied around Denmark and Greenland with a rare rebuke to the White House, declaring that Greenland “belongs to its people”.