U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will reportedly meet with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen on the sidelines of a NATO gathering in Brussels, as U.S. President Donald Trump makes clear that he wants to take Greenland.
The planned connection was reported by the Financial Times, citing two unnamed officials, and would be the first high-level U.S.-Denmark meeting in person since the new Trump Administration took office in January.
Newsweek has contacted the Danish foreign ministry’s press department by email for comment.
Greenland is a self-governing Danish territory, rich in natural resources, including highly-prized rare earth minerals. The large island sits northeast of Canada, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. It is a strategic buffer between the U.S. and Russia.
There is a strong movement in Greenland for independence from Denmark, but little appetite to join the U.S. as a state. Greenland’s new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, issued a defiant message to Trump after the island’s recent elections.
“We must listen when others talk about us. But we must not be shaken. President Trump says the United States is ‘getting Greenland’,” Nielsen wrote in a Facebook post.
“Let me make this clear: The U.S. is not getting that. We don’t belong to anyone else. We decide our own future. We must not act out of fear. We must respond with peace, dignity and unity.
“And it is through these values that we must clearly, clearly and calmly show the American president that Greenland is ours. It was like that yesterday. That’s how it is today. And that’s how it will be in the future.”
Trump was asked by NBC News if he would authorize the use of military force to take control of Greenland. “I don’t take anything off the table,” Trump replied, adding that there is a “good possibility that we could do it without military force.”
Vice President JD Vance visited a U.S. military base in Greenland last week with his wife, Usha, U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.
The trip was scaled back from initial plans to visit a dog sled race after criticism from Greenland and Denmark. Vance criticized Denmark for its handling of Greenland, saying it had “not done a good job”.
“Denmark has not kept pace in devoting the resources necessary to keep this base, to keep our troops, and in my view to keep the people of Greenland safe from a lot of aggressive incursions from Russia, from China, and from other nations,” Vance said.
The vice president also addressed the question of why Greenland matters so much to American interests.
“We know that Russia and China and other nations are taking an extraordinary interest in Arctic passageways, Arctic naval routes, and in the minerals of the Arctic territories. We need to ensure America is leading in the Arctic,” Vance said.
This is a developing story and more information will be added shortly.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press conference in Paramaribo, Suriname, on March 27, 2025.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press conference in Paramaribo, Suriname, on March 27, 2025.
NATHAN HOWARD/POOL/AFP via Getty Images