Posted originally on CTH on January 15, 2026 | Sundance | 

Representative from Denmark, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and his Greenland counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, hold a press conference following a meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Their collective position essentially boils down to, ‘the United States is required to defend and protect our Danish kingdom territory – but the United States will not be allowed to control our Danish kingdom territory.’

“We didn’t manage to change the American position,” Rasmussen told reporters. “It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland. We made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the Kingdom.” Both Rasmussen and Motzfeldt noted the discussions were respectful and friendly; however, there remains major concerns that Greenland is vulnerable to the strategic long-term plans of both China and Russia.

Denmark, a NATO member, is apoplectic at the possibility of the U.S. taking control of Greenland and has repeatedly said that Denmark would defend Greenland if any threat materialized. However, the only way for Denmark to defend Greenland would be to rely on the U.S. military, thus the Trump administration underlines this point in the discussions of Greenland security. WATCH:

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There is a particular irony here embedded in the nuance.  Greenland wants to hide behind the security guarantees of the United States; but Denmark wants to retain sovereign control of the protectorate that couldn’t exist without the United States security guarantee.

You can overlay the prior Crimea referendum, or the view of the Eastern Donbas residents in Ukraine and look at this Greenland situation through a similar prism.