Trump’s desire to avoid military force over Greenland is “positive” sign: Danish FM

• During his World Economic Forum address, President Trump ruled out using military force to acquire Greenland but demanded "immediate negotiations" for its purchase, a proposal Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen dismissed as a violation of sovereignty and the right to self-determination.
• Denmark has responded by deploying elite Jaeger Corps specialists and the frigate Peter Willemoes to Greenland as part of "Operation Arctic Endurance," a joint exercise with seven European allies intended to serve as a military "tripwire" against potential annexation attempts.

Denmark's foreign minister said Wednesday it was a "positive" sign that Donald Trump had said he wanted to avoid military force in Greenland, but stressed the US president had not backed away from his threat to seize the Arctic territory.

"What is quite clear after this speech is that the president's ambition remains intact," Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters in Copenhagen, referring to a speech by Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"It is, of course, positive in isolation that the president said that about the military, but it doesn't make the problem go away."

Lokke noted that it had been stated "very clearly that it is better to own than to rent" and that Trump did not believe that Denmark could take care of Greenland.

In Davos on Wednesday, Trump for the first time assured that he "won't use force" but demanded "immediate negotiations" to acquire the island from Denmark.

Following a parliamentary meeting with Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, Lokke Rasmussen reiterated that the territory is not for sale.

He stressed that "one does not trade in people. One can trade between people, but one does not trade people".

He also reiterated what had been agreed during a meeting between him, his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt, US Vice President JD Vance, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on January 14 in Washington.

During the meeting, the countries agreed on the establishment of a working group.

"This agreement provides for high-level discussions to see whether we can address American concerns without crossing our red lines," Lokke Rasmussen said.

"We will never negotiate by giving up fundamental principles. We are living in 2026, in an international order based on law, state sovereignty, and the right of peoples to self-determination -- an order the United States itself helped build after World War II," the minister said.

Deployment

Denmark's Armed Forces also on Wednesday said it was continuing to deploy troops to Greenland.

"For the first time, the Jaeger Corps' Arctic specialists have been deployed to Greenland's toughest terrain along the Blosseville Coast," Denmark's Joint Arctic Command said in a post to social media.

The purpose of the deployment was, among other things, an "increased presence in the Arctic", it added.

Danish broadcaster DR also reported that the frigate Peter Willemoes had arrived in Greenland to join Arctic Endurance, a Danish military exercise that brings together personnel from several European countries and began last week.

A few days after Trump announced that the United States would get Greenland "one way or the other", eight European countries sent several dozen troops to the island, officially to prepare for the staging of Arctic Endurance.

Some have since departed, including a small group of roughly 15 Germans and some Swedes, while others continue to arrive.