WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to convene a high-level meeting with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland’s representative Vivian Motzfeldt this week, signaling escalating diplomatic engagement over Arctic territorial discussions. The gathering, confirmed to occur at the White House with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in attendance, comes amid heightened tensions regarding the Trump administration’s expressed interest in acquiring Greenland.
The vast Arctic territory, while semiautonomous, remains under Danish sovereignty and represents a strategically crucial NATO asset. The meeting arrangement emerged following Vice President Vance’s personal intervention to participate directly in the negotiations, according to Minister Rasmussen’s statements to journalists after addressing Denmark’s parliamentary foreign policy committee.
This diplomatic development occurs against the backdrop of increasingly assertive rhetoric from President Trump, who recently reiterated aboard Air Force One that the United States must secure Greenland—whether through negotiated agreement or alternative measures—to prevent Russian or Chinese expansion into the region. The administration has reportedly contemplated multiple options, including military contingency plans, though officials emphasize preference for diplomatic resolution.
Concurrently, a bipartisan congressional delegation is en route to Copenhagen for weekend meetings aimed at demonstrating continued solidarity between the United States and Denmark. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has also arranged emergency consultations with Greenlandic Premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen and leadership from the Faroe Islands, Denmark’s other semiautonomous territory, underscoring the gravity of these geopolitical developments.