White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Danish reports on Thursday that Wednesday's meeting "was productive."
But she then contradicted the Danish and Greenlandic guests' statements that the purpose of the intended working group is "to find a common way forward," as Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said on Wednesday.
According to Leavitt, the group will instead "talk about an American takeover of Greenland."
Red line
That makes Lars Løkke Rasmussen react.
"We have not agreed to have a technical group that will look at how the US can take over Greenland," he tells Danish TV2.
"We have a red line: the sovereignty of Denmark and Greenland should be respected. It is as clear as Trump's desire to take over Greenland," he says.
And President Donald Trump's wish remains, even after the meeting, Leavitt emphasized at a press conference at the White House.
"The president has been very clear about his priority. He wants the United States to take over Greenland," she said.
She also added that the US position is not affected by the fact that several European NATO countries - including Sweden - are now sending soldiers to Greenland for an exercise, which Denmark has said is part of the desire to strengthen Greenland's defense.
Very few meetings
Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, who, together with Lars Løkke Rasmussen, participated in the meeting with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said after the conversation:
"For us, the most important thing is that we find a return to a normal relationship with the United States."
But just a day later, her Danish colleague took a darker view of the progress he thought had been made with the working group.
"It is clear that if it turns out that they have other ambitions, there will be very, very few meetings," Løkke Rasmussen told TV2.
