1 Apr 2025

US, Denmark to hold first high-level talks since Trump's win, FT says

6:14 pm on 1 April 2025
US President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on 21 January, 2025, in Washington, DC.

US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen is set to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week in the first high-level talks since US President Donald Trump's re-election and his vow to "take control" of Greenland, the Financial Times have said.

The prospect of such talks comes amid simmering tension between the two nations over US interest in taking control of Greenland, the Arctic island controlled by Denmark since 1721.

The meeting is planned for the sidelines of a gathering of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels set to begin on Thursday (local time), the paper said on Tuesday, citing two officials briefed on the preparations.

New US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during his swearing in as the 72nd person to hold the title, on 21 January, 2025, in the Vice President's office at the White House.

New US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during his swearing in as the 72nd person to hold the title, on 21 January, 2025, in the Vice President's office at the White House. Photo: AFP/ Alex Wong

However, the officials warned the event could be cancelled because of tense relations between Copenhagen and Washington, it added.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is visiting Greenland from 2 to 4 April for talks with the new government of the semi-autonomous territory just days after a visit by US Vice President JD Vance.

On his trip, Vance accused Denmark of not doing a good job of keeping the island safe and suggested the United States would better protect the strategically located island.

-Reuters

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs