The foreign minister of Denmark got blunt about what could happen if President Donald Trump acts on his ambitions to seize Greenland.
Lars Løkke Rasmussen, 61, told Fox News’ Bret Baier that any move to invade the semiautonomous territory of Denmark would upend the world’s most powerful military alliance.
“You also don’t believe the U.S. is going to invade Greenland, do you?” Baier asked Wednesday night after Rasmussen met with Trump officials at the White House.
“No,” the Danish minister responded. “At least I do not hope so, because, I mean, that will be the end of NATO.”
Early Wednesday morning, Trump claimed in a Truth Social post that “NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES.”
“NATO should be leading the way for us to get it,” he said. “IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!”
Rasmussen, who served two separate terms as prime minister of Denmark, underscored that the Scandinavian nation shares those security concerns. But he also pointed out that Denmark hasn’t received any requests from the U.S. to step up in Greenland over the last two decades.
The U.S., Denmark, and Greenland agreed at the meeting to establish a high-level working group to explore a way forward—but Rasmussen said Trump’s ambitions remain “crystal clear.”
Trump has ramped up his threats to take over Greenland since the U.S. extracted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a shocking raid. His plan to purchase the island could cost up to $700 billion, scholars and former U.S. officials told NBC News.
“This is 2026. You trade with people, but you don’t trade people,” Rasmussen said. “I totally agree, you know, [with] the president’s concern and still respect, of course, the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination.”
Trump, meanwhile, remained defiant. While signing executive orders, he insisted that the U.S. needed Greenland for his planned Golden Dome missile defense system.
“There’s not a thing that Denmark can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland. But there’s everything we can do. We found that out last week with Venezuela,” he said. “I can’t rely on Denmark being able to fend themselves off.”
