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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he will meet with Danish officials next week following Denmark’s request for talks amid rising tensions after U.S. President Donald Trump renewed statements about Greenland.
Asked on Capitol Hill about the possibility of military intervention in Greenland, Rubio said discussions would take place during the upcoming meeting.
“I’ll be meeting with them next week. We’ll have those conversations with them then,” he told reporters.
Rubio said Trump’s interest in Greenland is not new, noting that the issue was raised during the president’s first term and that previous U.S. administrations had also examined ways to acquire the territory.
The meeting comes as the Trump administration says it is weighing its options regarding Greenland.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president believes it is in the best interest of the United States to deter Russian and Chinese aggression in the Arctic region.
Leavitt said Trump has been “very open and clear” about his position and that his team is discussing what a potential purchase of Greenland could involve.
In a written statement earlier this week, she said that using the U.S. military “is always an option.”
Trump renewed his call for a takeover of Greenland for national security reasons a day after a U.S. military operation in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“We need Greenland, from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” Trump said.
Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark and has repeatedly rejected proposals involving any transfer of sovereignty to the United States.
Denmark’s Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen described the planned meeting with U.S. officials as “really good news,” saying it would allow both sides to speak directly rather than through the media.
“I think that is really good news, because it shows that we now have the opportunity to talk directly to each other instead of doing it through the media,” Poulsen told public broadcaster DR.
He emphasized the importance of holding the discussions in a confidential setting.
Poulsen said the talks are part of the dialogue requested jointly by the Danish and Greenlandic governments.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has urged Trump to “stop the threats,” stating that Greenland has rejected any suggestion of U.S. control and warning that any attack would have serious consequences.
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