The White House and Denmark offered conflicting accounts of discussions regarding Greenland, highlighting ongoing tensions surrounding President Trump's purported desire for U. S. ownership of the island.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that a Danish and Greenlandic delegation agreed to "technical talks on the acquisition of Greenland." However, Denmark's foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, countered that the agreement was to establish a "high-level working group to explore if a common way forward can be found to address the American security concerns in relation to Greenland." Rasmussen emphasized that U. S. ownership remained a non-starter for Denmark and warned that the working group's success would depend on respecting Denmark's territorial integrity and Greenland's self-determination.
This public disagreement occurred amidst a backdrop of European nations, including Denmark, deploying small numbers of troops to Greenland as part of a military exercise, a move Danish officials described as strengthening Greenland's defenses.