• Denmark says it is boosting military presence in Greenland.
• Greenland crucial for Golden Dome defence system: Trump.
• Sweden says its officers joining Denmark’s military exercise.
  

Denmark and Greenland’s top diplomats held high-stakes talks at the White House on Wednesday, with President Donald Trump warning it was “vital” for the United States to take control of the Arctic island.

Shortly before the meeting with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Denmark announced it was immediately boosting its military presence in strategic Greenland.

Footage from CNN showed Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt arriving at the White House campus, while AFP journalists saw Rubio and Vance heading into the talks.

The White House posted an image on X showing two possible paths for Greenland.

On the left, a sunny White House awaits. On the right, apocalyptic thunderstorms in China and Russia.

The image was posted at 11:31am (1631 GMT). It is unclear whether the meeting was still ongoing at that time.

Trump’s escalating threats over Greenland — a vast and sparsely populated autonomous territory belonging to Nato ally Denmark — have deeply shaken transatlantic relations.

The 79-year-old Republican insisted ahead of the talks that Nato should support the US effort to take control of Greenland, saying it was crucial for his planned Golden Dome air and missile defence system.

“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES. Anything less than that is unacceptable,” he wrote on his Truth Social network.

“IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!” added Trump.

Vance, who slammed Denmark as a “bad ally” during a visit to Greenland last year, is known for a hard edge, which was on display when he publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last February.

“If the US continues with, ‘We have to have Greenland at all cost,’ it could be a very short meeting,” said Penny Naas, a senior vice president at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a Washington think tank.

Trump has derided recent Danish efforts to increase security for Greenland as amounting to “two dogsleds.” Denmark says it has invested almost $14 billion in Arctic security.

Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen sought to further ease US concerns on Thursday, telling AFP his country was boosting its military presence in Greenland and was in talks with NATO allies.

The Danish defence ministry then announced that it would do so “from today,” hosting a military exercise and sending in “aircraft, vessels and soldiers.”

Swedish officers were joining the exercise at Denmark´s request, Stockholm said.

‘Big problem’

Denmark’s Rasmussen said ahead of the meeting that he was hoping to “clear up certain misunderstandings.”

But it remains to be seen if there is a chance of de-escalating the situation.

Greenland´s leader said Tuesday that the island prefers to remain part of Denmark, prompting Trump to say “that’s going to be a big problem for him.”

Shortly after the White House talks, a senior delegation from the US Congress — mostly Democrats, but with one Republican — will visit Copenhagen to offer solidarity.

Trump has appeared emboldened on Greenland — and on what he views as the US backyard as a whole — since ordering a deadly January 3 attack in Venezuela that removed president Nicolas Maduro.

The White House has said that military action against Greenland remains on the table.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an attack on a Nato ally would end the alliance that has been the bedrock of Western security since World War II.

It is a founding member of Nato and its military joined the United States in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the latter to much criticism.

An agreement with Denmark currently allows the United States to station as many soldiers as it wants on Greenland. It also has a “space base” at Pituffik in northern Greenland.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen meanwhile said ahead of the Washington talks that “Greenland does not want to be part of the United States.”

But Trump has been insistent that he wants to acquire Greenland wholesale, repeatedly insisting on what he calls the threat of a takeover by Russia or China.

The two rival powers have both stepped up activity in the Arctic, where ice is melting due to climate change, but neither claims Greenland, which is home to 57,000 people.

Economic confrontation between nations and its consequences topped the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual risks perception survey released on Wednesday, replacing armed conflict as the number one concern of 1,300-plus experts surveyed worldwide.

The survey also showed perceptions of environmental risk slipping down the rankings while other concerns came to the fore — notably fears over the long-term consequences of weak governance of artificial intelligence.

Saadia Zahidi, managing director of the WEF annual gathering in Davos due to start next week, cited rising tariffs, checks on foreign investment and tighter supply controls on resources like critical minerals as examples of “geoeconomic confrontation”, which ranked as the top risk.

“(It is) when economic policy tools become essentially weaponry rather than a basis of cooperation,” she told an online press conference.

US President Donald Trump’s “America first” policies have led to a sharp rise in US trading tariffs across the world and fed into tensions between the US and China, which is dominant in critical minerals and the world’s second largest economy.

Perceived risks around extreme weather over the next two years dropped from 2nd to 4th place and pollution from 6th to 9th. Anxiety over critical change to earth systems and biodiversity loss fell seven and five positions respectively.

However, when asked what their sharpest concerns were over a longer, 10-year period, those same respondents ranked such environmental concerns in the top three spots.

Anxiety about “adverse outcomes of AI technologies” ranked 30th place in the two-year horizon but 5th place in the 10-year horizon.

Zahidi said the survey revealed that most of the concerns focused on how insufficient governance around AI could harm jobs, society and mental health while seeing it increasingly being used as a weapon in warfare.

The WEF said its annual survey draws on responses from “over 1,300 global leaders and experts from academia, business, government, international organisations and civil society”.

The UAE passport has surged to fifth place on the Henley Passport Index, allowing holders visa-free access to 184 countries and territories.

The UK-based institution Henley Passport Index ranks passports by the number of destinations their holders can visit visa-free or with visa-on-arrival access. It’s considered the most reliable measure of passport strength globally.

Since 2015, the UAE passport has climbed an impressive 37 spots, from 42nd to 5th. This rise is a result of the UAE’s strategic diplomatic efforts, opening up more travel opportunities for its citizens.

Other key rankings include the UK passport in 7th place, tied with Australia, and the Russian passport in 46th. 

The Saudi passport sits at 54th, while Pakistan ranks 98th, offering access to 66 countries.

Here’s the top 10 for 2026

• Singapore – 192 destinations
• Japan & South Korea – 188 destinations
• Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland – 186 destinations
• Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway – 185 destinations
• Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Arab Emirates – 184 destinations
• Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Malta, New Zealand, Poland – 183 destinations
• Australia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, United Kingdom – 182 destinations
• Canada, Iceland, Lithuania – 181 destinations
• Malaysia – 180 destinations
• United States of America – 179 destinations

This significant rise highlights the UAE’s growing global influence, making international travel easier than ever for its citizens, according to the authorities.