Name: No breakthroughs in Greenland talks
Uploaded: 2026-01-15T17:31:14.425Z
Duration: 5 min 26 s
Description: Carla Sands, Chair of the Foreign Policy Initiative at AFPI, joins to discuss EU leaders pushing back on Greenland threats and the lack of progress in Greenland talks between the U.S. and Denmark and Greenland officials.

Carla Sands, Chair of the Foreign Policy Initiative at AFPI, joins to discuss EU leaders pushing back on Greenland threats and the lack of progress in Greenland talks between the U.S. and Denmark and Greenland officials.

Talks between U.S. and Danish officials regarding Greenland's long-term security concluded without significant progress, as both sides maintained differing perspectives. Former U.S. ambassador Carla Sands highlighted Denmark's limited resources and lack of investment in Greenland's security, noting that the U.S. sees the island as strategically important.

Sands also discussed broader regional issues, including U.S. policy in South America, and questioned whether Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Machado could establish effective control if supported by the U.S. The interview concluded with Sands emphasizing the need for stable governance in both Greenland and Venezuela.

No breakthroughs in Greenland talks

The chair of the Foreign Policy Initiative at the America First Policy Institute, Carla Sands. Carla, thanks so much for being here. Good to see you. It's great to be with you, Shannon. So here is the foreign minister after that meeting with Vice President and Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday. Let's listen. We had what I will describe as a frank but also constructive discussion. The discussions focused on how to ensure the long-term security in Greenland. And here our perspectives continue to differ, I must say. The president has made his view clear, and we have a different position. Ambassador, he does not sound optimistic. No, it's, you know, for Denmark, they don't have the capability to defend Greenland. They never will, even with a few NATO allies. They just don't have enough manpower. When I was the U.S. ambassador, they had 30 troops in Greenland and two dogsleds games, and that's what they called their Arctic security. And in 2019, when President Trump said to the prime minister, same one as now, Mitchell Friedrichson, look, you've got to do more to do, you know, to secure Greenland, he promised him to put $200 billion into investments for the security. And did you know she invested 1 percent of that, and it wasn't in security? So she, as soon as he was out of office, ignored her security commitment. Denmark doesn't have the interest to secure Greenland or develop it, and they just can't. They have an economy about the size of the state of Colorado. And Greenland is key for, like President Trump said, the Golden Dome. Alaska and Greenland are key for this. And, you know, Denmark can't afford to develop, can't afford to defend. The Greenlanders want opportunity, but they're just limping along with some welfare that Denmark sends to them every year, about $600 million. It's about 20 percent of their budget. And they want to just have, like, you know, the Greenlandic dream and prosperity. The U.S. government can help do that if we have an agreement with them. Whatever President Trump comes up with could be a COFA. It could be something else that's more muscular. But the Greenlanders will have more development at that time, and they'll also be secure, because it's the world's largest island, and it's just off the U.S. northeast coast, and it's part of North America. So, as President Trump expands the Monroe Doctrine into the Donro or Trump Doctrine, he is securing our hemisphere on behalf of the U.S., but also our NATO allies and the world. So, let me ask you, Ambassador, if Denmark isn't paying for its own security, and it's not paying for the security of Greenland, who is paying for that security? Well, it's not secure. And that's why President Trump is so adamant that we need to control it, because he knows that Denmark, the prime minister, she's good for Denmark. She invests the money that the taxpayers pay into their mostly social welfare programs. They want high benefits, free college, free health care, free child care. They don't want their money going up to Greenland, where it's out of sight, out of mind. And I would go there. I mean, really, many people were really, really wanting more opportunity. And sadly, Denmark has kind of poisoned the mind of the Greenlanders. When I left, we had a wonderful relationship, and it was growing stronger. We had restored diplomatic ties after 67 years. But Denmark has now been doing a psyop on the Greenlandic people, America bad, we're your only friend, where they've actually been the oppressors of the Greenlanders and kept them living in very primitive conditions until the U.S. military invaded and secured Greenland during World War II. And we stayed until the mid-'90s. I want to pivot very quickly and put your international policy hat on very quickly. Of course, all eyes are on the White House today. Maria Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader, headed to the White House to meet with President Trump. The president has said he believes Machado doesn't have the support or the respect of the people. I have about 30 seconds here. Does she convince the president otherwise today, Ambassador? You know, Shannon, I think she has the support of the people. It's the government, the government operations. Does she have control of the military? Can she get control of the bureaucrats, the civil servants, the people, the street gangs? That is the concern. And that's why he has left the people that are in place now, except for the head of the snake that he took, he's left them in place, because otherwise you get chaos and anarchy. We don't want worse to happen to the people of Venezuela. He's restoring order to South America and the Caribbean area because of President Trump's actions. So taking out Maduro in place this operation now, can he parachute her in and build an infrastructure around her that works with the current administration? Because you can't take everyone out, then who's going to run the country? Carla Sands, former U.S. ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark and the chair of the Foreign Policy Initiative at America First Policy Institute. Carla, thanks for your time. Good to see you. Thank you.

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