Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Germany will all be sending troops to Greenland this week after U.S. President Trump has escalated his demands that Greenland cede control to the United States.
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on Wednesday to discuss the situation, but the U.S. would not back down.
“We have not been able to change the US position. We still have a fundamental disagreement, so we will continue the talks,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen stated after the talks, reported Do Rzeczy.
Greenland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Motzfeldt highlighted that Greenland wants to strengthen cooperation with Washington on security matters, but it has no intention of being incorporated into the United States.
In a post on X, Greenland Representation to the U.S. & Canada slammed Trump’s statement that anything less than full incorporation was “unacceptable,” stating that in a 2025 poll, “only 6% of Greenlanders/kalaallit were in favour of becoming a part of the US.”
The same poll shows that a nearly total majority, 85 percent, do not want to leave the Realm of Greenland. The Realm refers to Greenland’s status as a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, alongside Denmark proper and the Faroe Islands.
The post was shared by Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
Denmark has now begun deploying military equipment and units to Greenland. A so-called forward command has been dispatched to the island to prepare the area for the arrival of larger friendly and allied forces. The unit’s mission is to ensure that facilities and supply lines are ready to receive the main force at a later date.
The Danish Ambassador to the U.S., Jesper Møller Sørensen, also posted that Denmark and Greenland are committed to Arctic security.
“Several Swedish Armed Forces officers are arriving in Greenland today, part of a group from several allied countries,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said. Norwegian authorities also announced Wednesday evening that they had sent two soldiers to Greenland.
“Germany will send a dozen or so Bundeswehr soldiers to Greenland on Thursday,” German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius announced. He emphasized that it would be a reconnaissance mission, confirming reports from Bild.
The operation to send European troops to Greenland is being coordinated from Copenhagen, not through NATO structures. The reason is the desire to organize this mission without involving the United States.
