He Future of Greenland passes through the White House. It will be, especially, this Wednesday, when the delegations of the United States, Denmark and the enormous autonomous island will meet in an unusual three-way meeting. Everything happens, it seems, under the control of Donald Trump, who for the moment will not participate in this event, although he will be very attentive to it.
The appointment, unusual in substance, form and location, It can mark a before and after in the three-way relationship. Or not, with Trump involved anything is possible.
Who will participate
On the American side, the vice president, JD Vance, and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. In front, the counterparts of the head of US diplomacy, the Danish foreign ministers (Lars Lokke Rasmussen) y from Greenland (Vivian Motzfeldt), accompanied by their advisors.
How the postures arrive
The easy thing would be to use the ‘commonplace’ and say ‘confronted’, but the issue goes beyond that adjective. While Trump and his administration intensify their offensive rhetoricthe Danish and Greenlandic governments have been raising the tone in their own way, much more measuredly and even jointly.
In a succession of statements, the Prime Minister of Greenland, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, has pointed out that . Not in vain, he remembered that “we are part of the Kingdom of Denmark and therefore we are part of NATO“, something that seems capital in the face of a potential scenario of force on the part of the US.
Trump and the White House have already made it clear that “If necessary” they would resort to military force to take over a key territory for the “national security” of the United States. As a first option, they propose the commercial route, making a multi-million dollar offer to Denmark. The problem is that Copenhagen has not put the island up for sale.
Why is Vance and not Trump?
The absence of the US president is justified by the fact that it is not an appointment at the highest political level, as the heads of State and/or Government of the two European territories do not attend. But the presence of his number two, who will act as host at the White HouseYes, it has a special weight.
Vance, who will not have a counterpart during the three-way meeting, is a important figure in the ‘Greenland question’. Not surprisingly, it has been since Donald Trump returned to the presidency.
JD Vance and his wife and second lady of the US, Usha Vance, during their joint visit to Greenland in March 2025
The Vance visit (accompanied by his wifeperhaps to give it a less serious air) to the Pituffik base, owned by the US in Greenland, took place in March of last year, when Trump’s interest was already resonating. From the base, the vice president attacked Denmark for “not having done its job” of guaranteeing the security of an enclave also desired by Russia and China.
His presence, profusely photographed and with important media hype, felt like a shot in Copenhagenwho saw his presence and his words as a ‘hostile’ gesture at the dawn of a now redoubled crisis. After intervening in Venezuela, Trump reactivated his interest in Greenland and since then, he has not stopped fueling the tension, which affects NATO itself, due to the potential conflict between two of its members.
Denmark and Greenland, hand in hand towards Washington
Perhaps he will end up being noted as a little more in his mandate, but the truth is that Trump has managed to unite or at least bring the Danish state very close to the Greenlandic people. After years of friction and growing independence sentiment on the island, the two parties seem to have brought closer positions in their mutual defense against Washington’s expansionist desires.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Mette Frederiksen, in their joint appearance this Tuesday, January 13
This Tuesday, the Greenlandic Prime Minister pointed out to the media that “If we have to choose, we prefer Denmark” to the US. Because Denmark, he added, represents “the European Union and NATO.” In short, they prefer “the Greenland we know today.”
At his side, metaphorically and also physically, in a joint appearance, the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, has gone further. For the head of the Scandinavian Government, the strategy is “to remain united.”
“Let’s go together. We will stay together. And thus, we will send our message that Greenland is not for sale,” he said, not without failing to remind NATO of its duty to “protect” the island “like any other territory of the Alliance.”
