Denmark and Greenland insist the US will not take over the Arctic territory, calling for respect for sovereignty after Trump appointed a special envoy.
Tensions over Washington's interest in large, semi-autonomous Danish territory, a NATO ally, have been rekindled by Mr. Trump's statement on Sunday designating Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as the US special envoy.
Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the foreign minister of Denmark, expressed his displeasure at Mr. Landry's support of Trump's goal and declared he would call the US ambassador to Copenhagen.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic colleague, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, issued a joint statement saying:
"We have said it before. Now, we say it again. National borders and the sovereignty of states are rooted in international law."
"They are fundamental principles. You cannot annex another country. Not even with an argument about international security."
"Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders and the U.S. shall not take over Greenland,"
they added in the statement, emailed by Frederiksen's office.
"We expect respect for our joint territorial integrity."
Citing security concerns and its natural wealth, Mr. Trump has frequently stated that he wants Greenland, a mostly autonomous Danish province, to join the United States. Governor Landry has openly endorsed this contentious notion.
Donald Trump stated on Truth Social:
"Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security, and will strongly advance our Country’s Interests for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Allies, and indeed, the World."
Requests for response were not immediately answered by the White House.
Landry, who took office as Louisiana governor in January 2024, thanked Trump on X, saying:
"It’s an honor to serve ... in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the U.S. This in no way affects my position as Governor of Louisiana!"
Denmark and Greenland have consistently rejected the notion.
Lokke Rasmussen told Denmark's TV 2:
"I am deeply upset by this appointment of a special envoy. And I am particularly upset by his statements, which we find completely unacceptable."
Earlier, in an emailed statement to Reuters, Lokke Rasmussen said:
"We insist that everyone including the U.S. must show respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark."
The appointment of a U.S. envoy, according to Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament Aaja Chemnitz, is not a problem in and of itself.
"The problem is that he's been given the task of taking over Greenland or making Greenland part of the United States, and there's no desire for that in Greenland,"
Chemnitz said.
"There is a desire to respect the future that a majority in Greenland wants, namely to remain their own country and develop their independence over time."
Denmark, a NATO ally of the United States, has concentrated on bolstering Greenland's defense to meet U.S. complaints about insufficient security in an effort to ease tensions with the Trump administration over the past year.
Since 2009, Greenland, a former Danish colony with a population of only over 57,000, has had the ability to declare its independence from Denmark.
The island is strategically located along the shortest possible path between Europe and North America, which is crucial for the U.S. ballistic missile defense system. Its economy is primarily dependent on fishing and subsidies from Copenhagen.
How could this affect NATO relations with Denmark?
Denmark's summoning of the US minister over Trump's Greenland envoy appointment on December 22, 2025, strains bilateral ties but poses limited immediate threat to NATO relations, given participating Arctic security interests against Russia and China.
Danish officers view the move as undermining sovereignty, egging political demurrers and boosted Arctic defenses($2 billion investments in warships, drones); previous Trump rhetoric led Denmark to favor European arms over US systems, signaling procurement shifts.
Denmark remains married to NATO via Pituffik Space Base operations; experts note pressures stay bilateral, not alliance-wide, as Greenland's position bolsters collaborative defense without altering Denmark's alliance scores.