Trump says ‘no comment’ when asked if he would seize Greenland by force – Europe live

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And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, but Vivian Ho will guide you through the evening with all the latest on Greenland amid deepening conflict between the US and Europe about the territory’s future.

'Important to show Trump this is not way forward,' Danish foreign minister says, as he says comments 'disrupted' agreed process for talks on Greenland

Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen is now briefing journalists after his meeting with his UK counterpart, Yvette Cooper.

He repeats his earlier line that he wanted to thank the UK for its support on Greenland.

He also stresses that Denmark and Greenland have agreed to form a working group with the US to talk through their differences just last week, which is now being contradicted by the US rhetoric.

In his initial omments in Danish, reported by broadcaster DR, he says that not sending a strong signal in response would risk showing weakeness to the US.

“It is important that all of us who believe in international law speak out to show Trump that you can’t go down this road any further,” he says.

When he turns to English, he thanks the UK prime minister Keir Starmer for his comments earlier today, and “arguing that there are principles in life” and Britain’s leadership on this issue, “particularly after Brexit.”

He says he is confident the UK will stand by Denmark, and feels further reassured by that after the closed meeting he just had with foreign secretary Cooper.

He then comes back to the US talks last week as he says he thought Denmark, Greenland and the US agreed to “move this from social media, Truth Social and other arenas, into a meeting room where we could discuss” possible solutions, building on their relationship.

“That’s what we agreed,” he says, adding “we are pragmatic, cold-blooded Scandinavian people.”

“For second I thought that we managed maybe not to solve the problem, but to find a path forward. It was disrupted by the statement from the president,” he says.

He says that’s why it’s now important for the EU and allies to “stand up for these principles [of territorial integrity and sovereignty] to show the American president that you [may] have a desire, a vision, … but you will never be able to achieve that by putting pressure on us.”

He says he has no intention to escalate things, but is “surprised” by the latest events, also briefly mentioning the Danish-US bilateral history, including the Danish deployment to Afghanistan during the US war on terror.

Trump says 'no comment' to question if he would use force to seize Greenland, says Europe should focus on Russia and Ukraine

In a brief telephone interview with NBC News, US president Donald Trump declined to say if he would rule out seizing Greenland by force.

“No comment,” he told broadcaster.

He also insisted that he would “100%” push ahead with his plans to hit European nations with tarrifs if he doesn’t get Greenland.

Separately, he also repeated his frustration with Norway over the Nobel peace, saying that “Norway totally controls it despite what they say.”

“They like to say they have nothing to do with it, but they have everything thing to do with it,” he added.

Trump also expressed his frustration with European leaders focusing on Greenland, saying:

“Europe ought to focus on the war with Russia and Ukraine, because, frankly, you see what that’s gotten, them. That’s what Europe should focus on — not Greenland.”

Trump's Davos speech scheduled for Wednesday afternoon

Since Bessent mentioned it just now: Trump is expected to speak at Davos at 2.30pm local time on Wednesday (1.30pm UK), so make sure you save the date.

Judging by the last few days, it’s likely to be pretty explosive.

But be assured: I will obviously bring you all the key lines here on Europe Live on Wednesday.

US Bessent says Trump should be taken at his word on Greenland, warns against 'very unwise' retaliation

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has just been speaking to reporters in Davos, where the World Economic Forum is about to get under way.

Sporting a scarf with a US flag on it, he says the US focus was on sending a clear message that “America first doesn’t mean America alone” and “president Trump will be talking about this, what American leadership in the world looks like.”

He says the focus will be on “pushing for growth and deregulation.”

On Greenland, he says he’s not up to date as he’s been travelling, but “there are lot of inbound” calls and he says “everyone should be taking the president at his word.”

He says he knows nothing about Trump’s letter to Norway’s Støre (9:45, 13:27) , but he says it’s “an absolute canard” to suggest the president was deciding on Greenland’s future “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.”

There is also a big of a warning thrown at the very end of the briefing: asked about any potential trade retaliation from European partners, he says it would be “very unwise.”

Danish defence, Greenlandic foreign ministers meeting EU's Kallas, Nato's Rutte in Brussels

Meanwhile, Danish defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen and Greenlandic foreign minister Vivian Motzfeldt are meeting with the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, in Brussels.

EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas meets Greenlandic foreign minister Vivian Motzfeldt and Danish defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen in Brussels, Belgium. Photograph: Olivier Matthys/EPA

The pair is also expected to meet with Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte later today, with some suggestions in the Danish press that they could also hold a presser afterwards.

I will keep an eye on that for you.

Danish foreign minister in London for talks on bilateral relations, Greenland

Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen is in London this afternoon, meeting with his UK counterpart, Yvette Cooper.

Britain's foreign secretary Yvette Cooper and Denmark's foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen meet with the media as they meet in London. Photograph: Jack Taylor/AFP/Getty Images

In brief remarks before the meeting reported by the Danish press, he said that he wanted to thank the UK for its continued support for Denmark and Greenland.

But you can guess they will have much more to say behind the closed doors as they start drawing up a plan to get Trump to drop his Greenland demands.

US threats 'unnecessary and irresponsible,' Dutch minister says, as he calls for 'de-escalation'

Meanwhile, Dutch finance minister Eelco Heinen said the US tariff threats over Greenland were “unnecessary and irresponsible,” as he hoped for “de-escalation” in the coming days.

“It’s unnecessary because we are part of the same alliance. We make the same threat analyses. We are willing to work together. And it’s irresponsible because it’s going to hurt the world’s economy, and it’s not in the benefit of both continents. So most important is that we de-escalate,” he said.

He declined to say if the EU was prepared to deploy its anti-coercion instrument, saying “I am not going to talke in terms of threats, but all the options, of course, are on the table, but I want to have a constructive dialogue.”

“We need to de-escalate and take it from there,” he said.

Ireland's finance minister calls for 'cool heads' in discussions with US over tariff threats

Meanwhile over in Brussels, Ireland’s deputy prime minister and finance minister Simon Harris called for “cool heads” to prevail in discussions on the EU’s response to Trump’s tariff threats.

He stressed that Europe was “not seeking confrontation with anybody,” but it’s Trump who “decided to threaten Europe with additional tariffs, ones that have a very significant destabilising effect.”

He warned that “the destabilising effect could potentially be enormous.”

He said that “we want to have dialogue in a cool and calm way” for further talks with US, although he noted that bloc was ready to “respond accordingly, should that be required.”

Denmark to ramp up military presence in Greenland in coming hours as part of exercises

Meanwhile, several Danish media are reporting plans to ramp up the Danish military presence in Greenland in the coming hours.

Public service broadcaster DR says the Danish Armed Forces confirmed it would be a “substantial” presence, without offering further details at this stage.

Broadcaster TV2 reported earlier that the troops are expected in Kangerlussuaq in Greenland later this evening, alongside Denmark’s army chief Mjr Gn Peter H. Boysen.

The Danish army also released a first picture from its military exercises in the semiautonomous territory, saying in a post published last night that its troops were working on “how to handle their weapons in freezing temperatures, wind, and snow.”