Denmark has summoned the top US diplomat in the country following reports that American citizens with alleged ties to President Donald Trump have been conducting covert influence operations in Greenland.

Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Wednesday that “external actors” were attempting to interfere in the future of the vast Arctic island, calling such efforts “unacceptable".

Mark Stroh, the US chargé d’affaires in Copenhagen and Washington’s most senior diplomat currently in Denmark, was called to a meeting at the Danish Foreign Ministry to address the matter.

The move comes amid lingering alarm in Denmark over Trump’s repeated remarks that the United States seeks to take control of Greenland from Copenhagen. Trump has previously refused to rule out the use of force to achieve such an outcome, further unsettling Danish officials.

Rising arctic tensions

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Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal reported that a secret memo had been sent to US intelligence agencies urging them to identify individuals in Denmark and Greenland who supported Trump’s ambitions for the island. That report prompted Denmark to summon US diplomats in May for explanations.

Greenland, an autonomous territory under the Danish crown, has long been of strategic interest to Washington due to its Arctic location, natural resources, and hosting of the US Thule Air Base. The latest reports have heightened sensitivities over foreign influence and underscored Denmark’s determination to protect its sovereignty over the island.

Rasmussen said Copenhagen would continue to monitor the situation closely, warning that any attempts to destabilize or manipulate Greenland’s political future “will not be tolerated.”

White House studying Greenland takeover

The White House, back in April, was looking into how much it would cost the US government to control Greenland as a territory, The Washington Post reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.

Staff at the White House budget office have been working to assess the potential costs associated with maintaining Greenland if it were to be acquired, and they are attempting to estimate the potential revenue that could be generated for the US Treasury from Greenland’s natural resources, according to two officials cited by The Post.

One proposal being considered is to offer Greenland's government a more attractive deal than Denmark's current arrangement, which provides approximately $600 million annually in subsidies for services on the island.

Internal planning indicates that the administration’s aspirations to acquire Greenland extend beyond the president’s casual remarks and are starting to be incorporated into official government policy, The Washington Post said.

A senior White House official said the administration is currently analyzing the estimated cost of acquiring Greenland, including factoring in the cost of providing government services to its citizens, with budget officials still working to determine what that cost could be, according to the White House official.