Mark Stroh, charge d'affaires for the United States Embassy in Denmark, arrives at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Copenhagen, on Aug. 27, 2025.

Denmark summoned the top American diplomat in Copenhagen after a report in Danish media claimed U.S. citizens have been conducting covert influence operations in Greenland aimed at interfering with the island's political status.

The report Aug. 27 from Denmark's state broadcaster DR said Danish intelligence services uncovered a network of at least three people working on "influence operations" in Greenland to drive a wedge between Denmark and its territory, which President Donald Trump has said he wants to become part of the United States.

"Any attempt to interfere in the Kingdom’s internal affairs will obviously be unacceptable," Denmark's foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, said after he summoned Mark Stroh, the U.S. charge d'affaires in Copenhagen, for an explanation. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the reported interference was "unacceptable."

The United States has no ambassador in Denmark. A charge d'affaires is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador.

The U.S. State Department confirmed in a written statement that Stroh met with Danish foreign ministry officials. It declined to comment "on the actions of private U.S. citizens in Greenland."

The department said Stroh had "a productive conversation and reaffirmed the strong ties among the Government of Greenland, the United States, and Denmark.” The statement also noted that Trump and his top aides and advisers had all said they respect "the right of the people of Greenland to determine their own future."

Greenland's government did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement to USA TODAY, Denmark's top diplomat said that given that "foreign actors continue to show an interest in Greenland," it was "therefore not surprising if we experience outside attempts to influence the future of the Kingdom in the time ahead."

PET, Denmark’s security and intelligence service, said its assessment was that "Greenland, especially in the current situation, is the target of influence campaigns of various kinds."

According to the DR report, all three Americans had "ties" to Trump. One American visited Greenland to attend meetings and compile a list of potential allies and opponents of Trump's desire to take over the territory, the report said.

The two other Americans were involved in building networks of contacts with politicians, business figures and community leaders to pursue Trump's plans, the report said. DR said it knew the names of the three men but chose not to publish them to protect sources. The outlet said it was not able to determine whether the Americans were working on their own initiative or as a result of an official order.

The Wall Street Journal separately reported in May that the United States had stepped up its intelligence operations to spy on Greenland. That report also prompted Rasmussen to summon the U.S. envoy.

Stroh was the second American diplomat to be summoned by a NATO ally this week. France called U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner to its foreign ministry after he sent a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron alleging the country did not do enough to combat antisemitism.

Trump's White House has expressed interest in acquiring Greenland because of its strategic location in Arctic waters and because of its untapped mineral resources and wealth, including rare-earth elements used in many consumer electronics. Greenlandic and Danish officials have repeatedly said Greenland is not for sale.

"It is beyond a joke that they try to infiltrate Greenland’s society in this way. It is Greenland itself who must decide what future we want," Greenlandic lawmaker Aaja Chemnitz said.

In an unrelated development, Frederiksen, Denmark's leader, formally apologized on Aug. 27 to thousands of Greenlandic girls and women who over decades were fitted, sometimes without their knowledge, with contraceptive coils to limit the growth of the territory's Inuit population.

Danish authorities last year said as many as 4,500 women and girls received the coils between the 1960s and mid-1970s. That's estimated to be half of the fertile women in Greenland at the time.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is the U.S. running a secret operation in Greenland? Denmark summons American envoy

Reporting by Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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