The new US Ambassador to Denmark, Ken Howery, attended an audience with King Frederik on Tuesday but avoided directly addressing President Donald Trump’s stated objective of taking control of Greenland.

Howery spoke to Danish media outside Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen after being presented to King Frederik and officially taking the post of US Ambassador.

He said his priorities included “strengthening our defence and security cooperation, trade and investment ties, and working together with the Kingdom [of Denmark, ed.] to address our shared concerns about security in the Arctic, especially in Greenland.”

When the ambassador was asked by a Danish journalist for his “message” to both the king and Danish people in relation to Greenland, an aide interrupted and said there was not time to answer the question.

“We’ll have time to comment in the future,” Howery said.

Asked by broadcaster TV2 whether Trump’s plan to take over Greenland was now “off the table”, Howery did not give a definite response.

“I refer you again to what he said about, this is an issue for the Greenlanders to decide,” the ambassador said.

Howery said that, as ambassador “my personal priority would be to look for opportunities to work together with the Danes on this shared concern of the security of the high north.”

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Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly said America needs the strategically located, resource-rich island for security reasons, and has refused to rule out the use of force to secure it.

In August, before Howery arrived in Denmark, Copenhagen summoned the US charge d’affaires for talks after reports of ‘interference’ activities in Greenland by US actors aimed at creating division with Denmark.

Howery, a 49-year-old businessman, was confirmed by the US Senate in September after Trump originally nominated him at the end of last year.

READ ALSO: What does Trump’s choice of Musk ally as Danish ambassador tell us about Greenland plan?

“I’m honored and humbled to have been confirmed by the Senate tonight to serve as our Ambassador to Denmark,” he wrote on X following his confirmation.

“I look forward to representing our country and building on the strong friendship between the United States and Denmark,” he wrote.

Howery has close ties to Elon Musk and his nomination came at a time when Trump began expressing his intention to seize Greenland.

He has experience as an Ambassador after being given the position in Sweden during Trump’s first term, but is perhaps best known for being one of the five original founders of the online payment service PayPal, alongside Musk, Peter Thiel, Luke Nosek, and Max Levchin, serving as CFO of the the company from 1998 until it was bought by eBay in 2002.