The foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark will meet U.S. Vice President JD Vance alongside Rubio at the White House on Wednesday. They are hoping for \u201can honest conversation with the administration,\u201d according to another EU diplomat familiar with plans for the meeting.<\/p>\n
The art of the deal<\/p>\n
Asked to describe a possible endgame on Greenland, the first EU diplomat said it could be a deal that would give Trump a victory he could sell domestically, such as forcing European countries to invest more in Arctic security as well as a promise that the U.S. could profit from Greenland\u2019s mineral wealth.<\/p>\n
Trump is primarily looking for a win on Greenland, the diplomat said. \u201cIf you can smartly repackage Arctic security, blend in critical minerals, put a big bow on top, there\u2019s a chance\u201d of getting Trump to sign on. \u201cPast experience\u201d \u2014 for example when EU allies pledged to spend 5 percent of GDP on defense \u2014 showed \u201cthis is always how things have gone.\u201d On mineral extraction, details are blurrier. But a deal that guarantees the U.S. a share of profits from extraction of critical raw materials is one possibility, said the EU official.<\/p>\n
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On defense, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte laid the groundwork for a deal when on Monday he said countries in the alliance were discussing ways of bolstering Arctic security. While the shape of the \u201cnext steps\u201d touted by Rutte remain to be defined, a ramped-up investment by European NATO members is one possibility that could fit with Trump\u2019s desire to see Europe shoulder greater responsibility for its security.<\/p>\n