Denmark plans agreement with the US on Greenland before the end of 2026, according to its chancellor

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen hopes that talks with the United States on Greenland will yield an agreement before the end of 2026, although not before the summer. He said this to the newspaper Politiken, as reported by Bloomberg this Tuesday June 24, 2026.

The financial account @StockMKTNewz broadcast the headline in English: «Denmark's foreign minister says a deal with the US over Greenland is coming by year end». The post quotes Bloomberg and summarizes that high-level officials from the three sides have been meeting since January, that the US negotiators are figures close to Donald Trump and that working group meetings are still missing before closing a pact.

What they negotiate and in what period

According to Bloomberg, Rasmussen believes that American negotiators—senior officials with the president's backing—can “deliver” a deal. But the exact content remains undefined: the options range from greater US military access and economic agreements to some formula for sovereignty, always within the framework accepted by Copenhagen and Nuuk.

The working group was born on January 14, 2026, when Løkke and the then Foreign Minister of Greenland, Vivian Motzfeldt, met in Washington with Vice President J.D. Vanceand Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Since then there have been "a series of meetings", according to the chancellor himself in subsequent appearances before the Danish parliament and Greenlandic media such as Sermitsiaq and KNR, but "the goal has not yet been reached."

Løkke has stressed on several occasions that the "temperature" between the parties is better than at the end of 2025, when Trump threatened tariffs and reiterated his desire for the US to "take" the island. Even so, he warns that the closure will require the personal involvement of Trump and that Denmark will not give in on its red line: the territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the right of self-determination of the Greenlanders.

Substantive dispute: "agree to disagree"

The conflict broke out when Trump once again proposed that Greenland should pass into American hands for reasons of Arctic security - against Russia and China -. Denmark and Greenland reject the acquisition: "Totally unacceptable", Løkke said after the January talks, quoted by Reuters and CNBC.

The diplomatic formula was «agree to disagree» (agree to disagree): Washington maintains its ambition; Copenhagen and Nuuk defend the current framework – the 1951 defense agreement and NATO. The working group is looking at whether there is room to meet “legitimate U.S. security concerns” without a surrender of sovereignty.

At one point there was friction over the group's mandate: White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said it should discuss the "acquisition" of Greenland; Løkke denied this and stated that they only talked about Arctic security, according to Politiken and DR. "That shows that this is going to be very, very difficult," the chancellor then summarized.

Progress in NATO and what Greenland asks for

Løkke has highlighted a change in the multilateral climate: a year ago Washington maintained that only the US should "monitor" Greenland and the Arctic; Now there is greater NATO commitment, with meetings such as the one of Foreign Ministers in Helsingborg (May 21-22, 2026), where Marco Rubio and the Foreign Minister of Greenland, Múte B. Egede participated.

Greenland has self-government and has repeated that its future is decided by the Greenlanders. Egede told ArcticToday that after four months of meetings, initial positions have not changed, although the dialogue is "constructive." Danish media such as Børsen have mentioned the possibility of the US opening new military bases on the island within of the 1951 defense agreement—something Copenhagen could accept without giving up sovereignty.

In summary

What did Løkke say? He expects a US-Denmark-Greenland agreement before the end of 2026, not before the summer. What is being negotiated? Arctic security, possible military expansion and economic cooperation; not a sale of the island. Who participates? Working group since January with senior officials from the three countries. What is Trump asking for? Control or acquisition of Greenland; Denmark rejects it. Next step? More closed-door meetings and, at the end, direct involvement of Trump.