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By Suzanne Blake
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After President Donald Trump re-declared his "need" for Greenland over the weekend, key foreign ministers have rebuked his comments.
Leaders from both Germany and the United Kingdom have pushed back on Trump’s talks.
“Let me be very clear on the UK position. Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, our close European partners and longstanding NATO allies,” the United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said. “And all our countries work closely together on security issues and will always do so. The future of Greenland is a matter for the Greenlanders and Danes and no one else.”
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Why It Matters
On Monday, Trump said the United States would revisit its stance on Greenland in the coming weeks.
"Let's talk about Venezuela, Russia, Ukraine. We'll worry about Greenland in about two months. Let's talk about Greenland in 20 days,” Trump said.
Criticism from key foreign leaders could signal mounting global tension or prompt Trump to rethink his actions toward the semi-autonomous territory that is a part of Denmark.
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What To Know
While Cooper said “the future of Greenland is a matter for the Greenlanders and Danes and no one else,” on Monday, Germany's foreign minister, Johann David Wadephul, echoed this sentiment.
“Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Wadephul said Monday.
He added that the territory will be defended as a NATO member state “in principle.”
Speaking aboard Air Force One late on Sunday, Trump said the United States needs Greenland "from the standpoint of national security," and that Denmark "is not going to be able to do it."
However, Denmark's government, which controls the territory's foreign affairs and defense, said the White House needs to "stop the threats."
Greenland contains abundant minerals and also hosts the U.S. space base at Pituffik. This makes the area helpful for detecting long-range missiles bound for the U.S. mainland.
However, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen condemned the U.S. rhetoric Sunday, saying it "makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to take over Greenland."
"The U.S. has no right to annex any of the three nations in the Danish kingdom," Frederiksen said.
Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen also called the U.S. push to take over Greenland "completely and utterly unacceptable.”
"This is enough," Nielsen said. "When the president of the United States talks about 'we need Greenland' and connects us with Venezuela and military intervention, it's not just wrong. This is so disrespectful."
On Saturday, the U.S. bombed several locations in Venezuela and captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro as well as his wife, Cilia Flores. Maduro faces multiple charges, including narco-terrorism.
What People Are Saying
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said when visiting Greenland in March 2025: "Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have underinvested in the people of Greenland, and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass."
The United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Monday: “Let me be very clear on the UK position. Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, our close European partners and longstanding NATO allies. And all our countries work closely together on security issues and will always do so. The future of Greenland is a matter for the Greenlanders and Danes and no one else.”
William Hall, political science and business professor at Webster University, told Newsweek: “In view of recent events taking place at the order of President Donald Trump by the United States involving the capture, removal and indictment of Maduro, a sitting leader of a foreign sovereign nation, it remains to be seen how ongoing US efforts to discourage both Russia from continuing its invasion of Ukraine and potentially for China to exert its dominance over Taiwan will be viewed. It will also be very important to also see how other world leaders, including both US allies and those nations opposing the US, will react to US actions involving the invasion, capture and indictment of a leader of a foreign sovereign nation.”
What Happens Next
With increasing numbers of foreign leaders expressing their criticism of the Trump-backed Greenland rhetoric, it’s unclear whether this pushback will cause any notable change in the Trump administration’s approach.
“The outcome and implication for the status of U.S. standing on the world stage, following these events, remains to be seen,” Hall said.
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