Any talks with U.S. President Donald Trump cannot include a negotiation on the sovereignty of Greenland and Denmark, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement a day after Trump announced he and NATO had agreed to a “framework” for a deal.
“We can negotiate on everything political; security, investments, economy. But we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty,” Frederiksen said Thursday morning.
Greenland is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, a member of both NATO and the European Union.
Frederiksen said she had spoken with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, both before and after his meeting with Trump in Davos on Wednesday.
NATO was “fully aware” of Denmark’s position, she said, adding that she had received assurances from NATO that the question of sovereignty would not be on the table.
Frederiksen said she was told “only Denmark and Greenland themselves can make decisions on issues concerning Denmark and Greenland.”
The Danish prime minister said her country was open to a dialogue on Arctic security with the U.S., including on Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defence plan, “provided that this is done with respect for our territorial integrity.”
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
Frederiksen’s statement comes just hours before top leadership of the European Union huddled in Brussels on Thursday.
The European Council is a decision-making body made up of the heads of state and government of all 27 EU member states, as well as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The question of Greenland, Denmark and the future of the U.S.-EU relationship will be front and centre, as the leaders gather for what is being referred to as an “informal dinner” at 7 p.m. local time, or 1 p.m. eastern.
“We will discuss recent developments in transatlantic relations and their implications for the European Union, and coordinate on the way forward,” European Council President António Costa said in a statement before the EU dinner.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Europe must do more to secure the Arctic “in the framework of NATO.”
“Denmark and the people of Greenland can count on our solidarity,” Merz said in a social media post Thursday.
In his speech on Wednesday, Trump said: “Now what I’m asking for is a piece of ice, cold and poorly located that can play a vital role in world peace and world protection.”
“It’s a very small ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades,” he continued.
Trump announced shortly after that he had reached a “framework” with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte for “a future deal with respect to Greenland” and “the entire Arctic region.”
In his speech, which went over an hour and a half, Trump reiterated his assertion that the U.S. needed Greenland for “national security” and “international security” purposes.
The White House said Trump is “hopeful” that he can reach a deal with NATO.
“If this deal goes through, and President Trump is very hopeful it will, the United States will be achieving all of its strategic goals with respect to Greenland, at very little cost, forever,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said.
In his Davos speech, Trump said his ask for Greenland includes “right title and ownership.”
However, in a speech on Tuesday, Costa said that “only they, Denmark and Greenland, can decide on their future.”
“We cannot accept that the law of the strongest prevails over the rights of the weakest. Because international rules are not optional. And alliances cannot just boil down to a sequence of transactions,” he said.
He added that Europe would not accept violations of international law anywhere, “whether in Ukraine, Greenland, Latin America, Africa, or in Gaza.”
After announcing the “framework” of a deal on Greenland, Trump added he would no longer impose threatened tariffs on European nations over their support for the Danish territory next month as part of the deal framework, which he announced on his Truth Social platform.
“Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,” Trump wrote.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.