<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The top Washington-based diplomats for </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/greenland" rel="" target="_blank" title="Greenland "><span>Greenland</span></a><span> and </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/denmark" rel="" target="_blank" title="Denmark "><span>Denmark</span></a><span> met with White House officials at the National Security Council today as Greenland continues to publicly and privately insist it is not for sale.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Denmark's Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen and Greenland's head of representation to the US, Jacob Isbosethsen, met with Trump advisors, diplomats familiar with the matter told CNN.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/donald-trump" rel="" target="_blank" title="President Donald Trump"><span>President Donald Trump</span></a><span> has been proclaiming that he wants to purchase Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, since 2019.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/usa-portland-shooting-federal-agents-injure-two-people-inside-car-day-after-minneapolis-shooting/ca4c5131-584d-4db3-9ba1-f28d1eccdb53" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>US federal immigration agents shoot and injure two people in car outside hospital in Portland</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But neither he nor anyone in either of his administrations has ever privately broached the idea directly with Danish or Greenlandic officials, the diplomats familiar told CNN, despite White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying on Wednesday that the administration is "actively" discussing a potential purchase.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>CNN has reached out to the White House for comment about the meeting.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Even as Trump has repeatedly raised the spectre of using the military to take Greenland by force, behind the scenes, the US's relationship with Nuuk and Copenhagen remained business-as-usual for most of last year, the people said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/top-diplomats-from-greenland-and-denmark-met-with-white-house-officials-as-trump-pushes-for-ownership/2df7db23-eacb-4180-8d76-cc227c98e921" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The message that Greenland received from Trump administration officials throughout last summer was that there was no policy directive for US officials to work towards taking the island, the diplomats said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Danish and Greenlandic officials were blindsided, therefore, when Trump appointed a special envoy to Greenland in December who said his role is aimed at making Greenland "a part of the US".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Danish and Greenlandic officials have still not heard from the envoy, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, the diplomats said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>So when earlier this week Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, announced on CNN that it was now the "policy" of the US to acquire Greenland – adding that nobody would fight the US military "over the future of Greenland" and questioning Denmark's right to claim the territory – Denmark and Greenland were irate.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They immediately requested a high-level meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rubio is scheduled to meet with the foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark in Washington next week.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/ahmed-alahmed-bondi-hero-meets-former-prime-minister-kevin-rudd-in-latest-engagement-on-us-trip/02dd992a-be77-408b-a83c-d6c0821701e7" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Bondi hero Ahmed al-Ahmed meets former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on US trip</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump's renewed focus on Greenland comes just days after he authorised a military operation to capture the president of Venezuela.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The operation has heightened concerns among Danish and Greenlandic officials about Trump's potential willingness to seize Greenland.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But much like a possible purchase, the US has never directly raised the threat of military force with Danish or Greenlandic officials, either, the diplomats said – even as the White House has telegraphed publicly that it hasn't taken military action off the table.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rubio, meanwhile, told lawmakers earlier this week that Trump was interested in buying Greenland and downplayed the possibility of any forthcoming US military intervention to take the island by force, sources familiar with the briefing told CNN.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officials from Greenland and Denmark have made clear both publicly and privately, however, that they will not even entertain conversations about any mechanism that could enable the sale of Greenland to the US, saying that a population cannot simply be purchased.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Greenland is also not interested in a free-association agreement, the diplomats said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Greenland's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a statement on Monday: "The current and repeated rhetoric coming from the United States is entirely unacceptable. When the President of the United States speaks of 'needing Greenland' and links us to Venezuela and military intervention, it is not only wrong. It is disrespectful."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The top diplomats who visited the White House also met with lawmakers throughout the week and reiterated their message that they had no plans to negotiate a sale to the US.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Senator Roger Wicker, the GOP chair of the Senate Armed Services committee, told reporters after meeting the diplomats that it is Denmark's "prerogative and right" to refuse talks over the sale of the semiautonomous territory.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/arctic-freeze-grips-britain-and-europe/d97d7db2-09e2-4b7e-af94-d16c1b014c76" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Polar blast across Europe sends temperatures plunging as low as -33 degrees</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He argued the US should focus on other "great opportunities" to enhance the country's relationship with Denmark and Greenland.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Still, officials from Greenland remain worried about the Trump administration potentially using coercion – with economic tools or intelligence operations – to force them to entertain conversations that they are unwilling to have, diplomats said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During the Rubio meeting next week, it is likely that the foreign ministers from both places reiterate Greenland's willingness to work with the US on national security and minerals extraction efforts, underscoring that there are agreements already in place that would enable joint efforts to expand.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Whether or not Trump can be convinced that US national security interests can be protected with the relationship in the current status remains unclear.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He has made the case that taking over the island is a national security imperative – citing concerns about the Chinese and Russian presence in the region.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump also believes that ownership is in his view "psychologically needed for success" when it comes to the island, he told the </span><em><span>New York Times</span></em><span> this week.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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