The Latest: Danish prime minister vows to defend Greenland during NATO summit in Turkey

Speaking at the NATO summit in Turkey a day after U.S. President Donald Trump again expressed a desire for the U.S. to control Greenland, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, “Greenland is of course not for sale.”

“We hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenland people right for self-determination,” she said. “And we are sovereign states and we need everybody to respect our territorial integrity and our sovereignty.”

NATO leaders are trying to show increased military capabilities as the U.S. focus shifts from defending Europe. The alliance is holding a two-day summit in Ankara, Turkey, that will showcase military projects worth billions of dollars aimed at persuading Trump they are making a stronger Europe for a stronger NATO.

Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir said Wednesday that Greenland’s people “do not wish to be a part of the United States” and that NATO allies should focus on the threat from Russia.

As the summit meetings began Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said overnight U.S. strikes on Iran were necessary because Iran had violated the ceasefire.

Trump met with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday ahead of the summit and announced the U.S. will lift sanctions, opening the possibility of selling F-35 jets to Turkey over Israel's objections.

Trump also criticized NATO’s abilities to function without U.S. leadership and power, expressing disappointment at the refusal of some NATO allies to join the Iran war he launched alongside Israel without consulting them.

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Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever was upbeat about NATO’s support to Ukraine and used the organization’s new loan plans for the country to take a sly dig at the United States.

De Wever noted that NATO stands ready to provide 70 billion euros ($80 billion) in military aid to Ukraine this year and in 2027.

“This is also a very strong ‘red card’ to Putin,” he said, adding, “You can’t just take back a red card. You know that.”

Belgium beat the U.S. 4-1 on Monday in a World Cup round of 16 knockout match. FIFA lifted a suspension on a star U.S. striker for the Belgium game after U.S. President Donald Trump intervened.

De Wever and Trump were seated at the same summit table in Ankara on Wednesday.

Members of a bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation to the NATO summit in Ankara expressed optimism Wednesday that a solution can be worked out to allow Turkey back into the F-35 fighter jet program.

Turkey was booted out of the program after its purchase in 2019 of Russian-made S-400 missile defense system, which U.S. officials feared could enable Moscow to gather information on the F-35’s capabilities.

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who cowrote the legislation that kicked Turkey out of the program, said that if there is “an acceptable way” to deal with that concern, “then I think having Turkiye back in the F35 program would be a positive development.”

Rep. Mike Turner said “the details (of the proposal) that have been shared with us so far do appear to be promising.” He did not give further information.

French President Emmanuel Macron surprised Ankara residents as he shouted a cheery “Bonjour” during his morning jog through the capital’s streets.

He set off from his hotel in the city’s upmarket Cankaya district, heading uphill to a nearby park with a few bodyguards and a translator. Macron wore his now-trademark mirrored sunglasses for the hourlong run.

The closest Ankara locals usually get to their own leaders is while waiting for heavily guarded motorcades to pass.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he expects the summit to produce “a new spirit in NATO that makes NATO stronger, that makes NATO more united.”

He vowed allies will keep helping Ukraine and pointed to a European initiative to provide a further 70 billion euros ($80 billion) this year and again next year.

Merz said “it is now exclusively up to Russia to end this war and we will do everything again today to achieve that; and also send a clear message to Moscow. Russia has no chance of winning this war.”

Finnish President Alexander Stubb reaffirmed that matters concerning Greenland are “only in the hands of the Kingdom of Denmark.”

He said it is important that the NATO alliance stays intact.

Stubb is known as a Trump whisperer in Europe.

U.S. Sen Jeanne Shaheen said she is hopeful the summit will include a recommitment to Ukraine.

“The momentum is on the side of Ukraine at this point and we need to do everything possible to ramp up pressure on Russia to come to the table,” the Democrat from New Hampshire said.

Shaheen is co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer Group.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said his country was in solidarity with the United States in order to guarantee the free navigation of the Strait of Hormuz.

Nausėda said the Baltic country was ready to contribute by sending its demining mission if required.

“We have to stay united if we expect a solidarity from the side of the United States,” he said.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, when asked about Trump’s designs on Greenland, said he “rejects that kind of rhetoric, that kind of claim.”

“Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he told reporters. “It is up to the people of Greenland and Denmark to decide how that development should proceed.”

Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir said in remarks Wednesday in Ankara that Greenland’s people “do not wish to be a part of the United States” and that NATO allies should focus on the threat from Russia.

“Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland,” she said.

“What we need now is unity. We have threats coming from outside the alliance,” Frostadottir said. “I mean, Russia is the biggest threat when it comes to these NATO allies. We need to focus on us and how we stick together.”

Speaking at the NATO summit a day after U.S. President Donald Trump again expressed a desire for the U.S. to control Greenland, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, “Greenland is of course not for sale.”

“We hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenland people right for self-determination,” she said. “And we are sovereign states and we need everybody to respect our territorial integrity and our sovereignty.”

She said Denmark is “ready to defend every inch of NATO including our own territory” in the event of an attack and would rely on NATO allies to honor their commitment to defend each other.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Wednesday at the alliance’s summit in Ankara that the overnight U.S. strikes on Iran were necessary.

Iran had violated the ceasefire, Rutte said.

“I think it is totally crucial that the U.S. forcefully reacts,” Rutte said.

He expects NATO members to “reconfirm that Iran should never, ever get its hands on a nuclear capability” and also to reaffirm the importance of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to reporters upon arrival for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool)

Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever, right, speaks as he arrives for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks with the media as he arrives for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, right, speaks with the media as Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda, left, arrives for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaks as he arrives for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks as he arrives for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, left, and Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda speak with the media as they arrive for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Iceland's Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir speaks as she arrives for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks out from his car window as he arrives for the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (Metin Aktaş, Pool Photo via AP)

Members of the Historical Honor Guard stand before the welcoming ceremony for President Donald Trump at the Bestepe Presidential Palace during the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Front row from left, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew G. Whitaker attend the formal welcome for President Donald Trump at the NATO summit at the Bestepe Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

US President Donald Trump and American officials meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish officials at the Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July, 7, 2026. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

President Donald Trump, right, speaks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he arrives for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (Doğukan Keskinkılıç, Pool Photo via AP)

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Denmark on Wednesday vowed to defend its territory after President Donald Trump insisted again that the United States should control Greenland, upending a NATO summit in Turkey meant to be a show of strength and unity.

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said her country is “ready to defend every inch of NATO including our own territory” in the event of an attack, and would rely on NATO allies to honor their commitment to defend each other.

“We hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenland people’s right for self-determination,” Frederiksen said ahead of the meeting of NATO leaders. “Greenland is of course not for sale.”

Trump had reopened old wounds on the eve of the meeting by insisting that the United States should control Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory.

Hi renewed interest in Greenland could put at risk the entire future of NATO, which was founded in 1949 to counter the threat to European security posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

The organization is normally focused on outside threats such as that posed by Russia. It is not designed to deal with threats from within.

European countries, especially the ones with borders near Russia, worry that President Vladimir Putin might be planning some kind of an attack.

Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir said Greenland “belongs to the people of Greenland,” and called for unity.

“Russia is their biggest threat when it comes to these NATO allies,” she said. “We need to focus on us and how we stick together.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said from Ankara on Wednesday that he believes the United States is fully committed to the military organization, and praised Trump for taking forceful action against Iran overnight.

“I think it was absolutely necessary because when you have a ceasefire and Iran is basically violating a ceasefire, we see what happened yesterday,” Rutte said of the series of U.S. strikes on Iran after Tehran struck three merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

“I think it is totally crucial that the U.S. forcefully react,” Rutte said.

The U.S. strikes on Iran, as well as the revoking of a license allowing it to sell its oil on global markets, were retaliation, and underscored the fragility of an interim deal to end months of fighting between the two countries.

The U.S. launched the attacks shortly after Trump left a dinner hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Trump has so far not spoken about the strikes.

The meeting in Ankara was meant to focus on progress made toward meeting the alliance’s spending targets — something Rutte highlighted by noting Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Denmark and Greece are already investing more.

“The commitment is there, no doubt,” Rutte said before chairing the summit, but noted the Trump administration expects “the Europeans and Canadian will equalize their spending with the United States.”

In an attempt last month to mollify the U.S. leader, Rutte went to Washington to hail the “Trump Trillion” — the $1.2 trillion that European allies and Canada have added to defense spending since Trump came to power in 2017.

Yet Trump has demanded “loyalty” and branded NATO a “paper tiger” after some allies refused to grant open access to their bases for U.S. forces to attack Iran.

As leaders converged on Ankara, Rutte hosted a “big reveal” event to showcase the many deals planned for the increased spending — much of it to be spent on U.S. companies, creating thousands of jobs for Americans.

NATO diplomats and officials had hoped that Trump would take the win, but judging by some of his remarks since arriving in Turkey, they are in for yet another dressing down.

Trump has long argued that the U.S. carries more than its fair share of the defense burden for NATO. At last year's summit, the allies agreed to invest 5% of their gross domestic product on defense — 3.5% on their defense budgets and 1.5% on roads, bridges and ports so troops and equipment can move faster in times of conflict.

Yet new figures released by NATO on Tuesday showed that Slovenia, Belgium, Spain and the Czech Republic could be in hot water with the Trump administration as they struggle to meet the alliance’s old target of investing 2% of their GDP.

The Trump administration wants to see a more lean and lethal “NATO 3.0,” with Europe taking responsibility for its own security, including Ukraine, with conventional weapons while America would continue to provide its nuclear umbrella.

However, the Pentagon has launched a 6-month review of U.S. military presence in Europe, leaving allies to seek clarity on just how deeply Trump intends to cut U.S. force numbers.

The drawdowns could depend on how fast the European allies increase defense spending, and whether they are prepared to allow greater use of their bases.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a fresh appeal Tuesday for Ukraine to be allowed to join the alliance, saying Ukrainian armed forces are highly experienced and would only boost NATO’s defense capabilities.

Zelenskyy, who is expected to meet with Trump in Ankara on Wednesday, highlighted Ukraine’s adaptability and its ability to strike deep inside Russia, hit Moscow’s oil refineries and other energy targets. He said Ukraine’s armed forces are “eliminating” on average 30,000 Russian troops every month.

Concern has been mounting among some northern, central and eastern European countries that Russia might be preparing a hybrid attack — a combination of conventional warfare with tactics like cyberattacks — on the continent as Putin struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.

U.S. Sen Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), one member of a congressional delegation attending the NATO summit, said at a news conference Wednesday that she hoped there would be a “recommitment” to Ukraine, “because the momentum is on the side of Ukraine at this point and we need to do everything possible to ramp up pressure on Russia to come to the table.”

Trump will also meet with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former insurgent who led the offensive that unseated autocrat Bashar Assad in December 2024. Despite having once been an al-Qaida fighter, al-Sharaa has won Trump’s backing as he seeks to rebuild Syria and restore its long-shattered ties with the West.

Trump has repeatedly suggested that al-Sharaa would do a better job of rooting out Hezbollah in Lebanon than the Israeli army, raising alarms in Lebanon and Israel alike. The Syrian leader has said he has no interest in doing so.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks out from his car window as he arrives for the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (Metin Aktaş, Pool Photo via AP)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, center, poses with NATO defense ministers and industry representatives during the opening of the NATO Defense Industry Forum on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks at the opening of the NATO Defense Industry Forum on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Bestepe Presidential Palace during a formal welcome for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Two men walk past the NATO logo during the NATO Defense Industry Forum at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)