Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Tuesday projected a united front in the face of President Donald Trump saying that the United States will take control of the Arctic island.
"If we have to choose between the USA and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark," Nielsen said during a press conference held one day before U.S., Danish, and Greenlandic officials are due to meet at the White House.
"We choose NATO, the Kingdom of Denmark, and the EU. The time has come to stand together."
Frederiksen said the conduct of the United States has been "unacceptable" and that the fight to keep the island nation under Danish control is far from over.
"It has not been easy to stand up to completely unacceptable pressure from our closest allies for a lifetime," she said.
"But there is much to suggest that the hardest part is still ahead of us."
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland on Wednesday, the Danish foreign minister said, amid Trump's push to take control of the Arctic island for what he calls national security reasons.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, requested a meeting with Rubio after Trump recently stepped up threats to take over Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
"U.S. Vice President JD Vance also wanted to participate in the meeting, and he will host the meeting, which will therefore be held at the White House," Rasmussen told reporters in Copenhagen on Tuesday.
Trump said Sunday the United States would take Greenland "one way or the other," warning that Russia and China would "take over" if Washington didn't act.
According to Trump, controlling the mineral-rich territory is crucial for U.S. national security, given increased Russian and Chinese military activity in the Arctic.
"If we don't take Greenland, Russia or China will, and I'm not letting that happen," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.
Trump said he would be open to making a deal with the Danish self-governing territory, "but one way or the other, we're going to have Greenland."
Denmark's prime minister has warned that any U.S. move to take Greenland by force would destroy 80 years of transatlantic security links.
Trump waved off the comment, saying, "If it affects NATO, it affects NATO. But you know, they need us much more than we need them."
AFP contributed to this report.
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