TRANSCRIPT:
With the World Economic Forum underway in Davos, tensions over United States President Donald Trump's latest moves are already sparking protests.
After threatening tariffs on countries sending troops to Greenland, President Trump has again refused to rule out taking the Arctic territory by force.
Asked if the US would consider military action to take over Greenland, he replied: "no comment".
Danish Foreign Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, says he's not making it easy to negotiate.
“I also made it very clear that we are open for these kinds of discussions. We are pragmatic, cold-blooded, Scandinavian people with a warm heart. But it is not easy when we wake up every morning to new threats. Please convey that message to the president."
The renewed threats come after Norway's Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, revealed that Donald Trump had sent him a text.
In the message, Mr Trump blamed the Norwegian government for the fact that he did not win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Because of this, he wrote, he no longer feels an obligation to think purely of peace.
Norway's Prime Minister says it's important that Mr Trump understands that the prize is not run or decided by the government of Norway.
"I'm not going to comment on every sentence in that text message. He's very preoccupied with the Nobel Peace Prize. And I've explained to him many times that it's an award given by a Norwegian committee, not by the Norwegian government. I'm happy to repeat that. But I do believe... I've always thought that if leaders are very focused on the Peace Prize, that's not a bad thing. It means they're interested in doing something that qualifies them for an award that's about peace. But it's not something I make decisions about, and that needs to be emphasised.”
Rejecting any suggestion that the Nobel Prize was influencing the moves, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the President.
“I don't know anything about the President's letter to Norway, and I think it's a complete canard (rumour) that the president will be doing this because of the Nobel Prize. The president is looking at Greenland as a strategic asset for the United States. We are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to anyone else."
Denmark and Greenland have also held discussions over a possible NATO mission in Greenland after several European countries sent small military delegations there for an exercise, to which the US was also invited.
Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson says the exercises were designed to identify possible weaknesses in the security of Greenland.
"What we're doing right now is, together with many allies right now, we're doing what is called a reconnaissance tour in order to identify what kind of needs there are when it comes to infrastructure and exercises and so forth. And I think this is, could be, a way forward also for getting the alliance as such involved into expanding its footprint also on Greenland."
After prompting tariff threats, joint US-Canada military organisation NORAD now says its aircraft will soon arrive at a base in Greenland for what it said were "long-planned" activities.
Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Mr Rasmussen says their regional allies must stand up against US pressure.
"It's so important that all our allies in the NATO alliance and the European Union stand up for these principles, to show the American president you have a desire, you have vision, you a request, but you will never be able to achieve that by putting pressure on us."
Presenting a united front against the threats, Greenland's NATO and European allies are considering retaliatory economic measures if the tariffs are imposed.
European leaders are reportedly considering the use of the E-U's anti-coercion measure, allowing the bloc to put punitive economic measures on a country seeking to force policy change.
European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis says Europe and the US both have a lot to lose should the trade dispute escalate.
"We must remember that the transatlantic trade and investment partnership is the largest in the world. So, there is lots to lose economically, both for Europe but also for US - its companies and workers. Therefore, we need to work on finding a constructive solution to move forward, respecting international law and also taking care of our important economic and political relationships."
Greenland’s Minister of Business, Naaja Nathanielsen, says she hopes the US and Greenland can work together as allies.
"Well, of course, we are very offended but also surprised about the reaction, the idea that we can choose either to be sold like a piece of a product or we can be occupied. Occupation is a really serious threat, so this is really overwhelming to us. At the same time, we still consider the US an ally and want to move forward with the concerns there might be."
