Birds fly over mountain-lined homes in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 10, 2026.
Florent Vergennes | AFP | getty images
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Wednesday rebuked President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to assert US control over Greenland, saying the Scandinavian country is ready to defend “every inch” of its territory.
Speaking to reporters on the second day of a NATO summit in the Turkish capital Ankara, Denmark’s Frederiksen underlined the message that Greenland is not for sale.
His comments come shortly after the US president reiterated his threat to annex the self-ruled Danish territory, suggesting the US could pull its troops out of Europe in response to continued pressure from the region over the issue.
“Our position is absolutely clear. Greenland is definitely not for sale,” Frederiksen said. “We hope that everyone, including all allies, will respect the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination and that we are a sovereign state, and we need everyone to respect our territorial integrity and our sovereignty.”
Asked by CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick whether Denmark was prepared to defend Greenland militarily in the event of an attack, Frederiksen replied: “We are prepared to defend every inch of NATO, including our territory.”
He added, “One of the reasons why we created NATO many years ago is so that if something happens to one of us, we must all stand up for each other.”
In a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday, Trump said Europe’s refusal to go along with his expansionist desires “has hurt my relationship with NATO.”
Trump said, “Greenland should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark.” “And when they won’t go along with it, and we spend all the money to help them with Russia – we don’t have to spend any money.”
The US president also suggested the country could “pull all our troops out of Europe,” before adding: “Because as you probably noticed, Europe is a very different place than it was 20 years ago.”
Trump has ‘absolutely right’ on Greenland issue
Trump’s quest for Greenland became a major trans-Atlantic issue early in the year, fueled by the president’s repeated claims that the US needed to acquire the island. Greenlandic MPs have Insisted that the island is not for sale.
Trump, who has ruled out the use of military force to annex Greenland, suddenly announced in late January that he and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had “outlined a future agreement” regarding the territory.
A working group of representatives from the US, Denmark and Greenland has since been meeting to discuss next steps.
Rutte said on Wednesday that Trump has “absolutely right” on blocking China and Russia from access to the Arctic, referring to the US president’s claim that Greenland is “besieged” by Chinese and Russian ships.
“So, it is important that, as a coalition, and this is what we agreed on in Davos, we work together to make sure that this does not happen, and at the same time, when it comes to Denmark and Greenland, we have a good process in place,” Rutte said.