Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the U.S. should leave Greenland alone, reaffirming Copenhagen’s stance on President Donald Trump’s ambition to acquire the huge Arctic island.

Rasmussen met Thursday with the new U.S. ambassador to Denmark, Ken Howery. According to Danish outlet TV2, their meeting lasted about an hour — longer than a typical introductory chat.

Asked afterward whether he had told Howery to “keep his hands off Greenland,” Rasmussen replied: “Yes, he should, and so should the U.S. in general — and the Americans know that very well.”

“First and foremost, I thought it was nice to meet the American ambassador. We’ve been waiting for him for a long time, and it’s good that he’s here. It’s important that we have a representative from Trump’s administration,” Rasmussen added.

Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring Greenland — and refused to rule out using either military or economic coercion to get it — saying he needed the Arctic island for national security purposes. Denmark has maintained that Greenland is not for sale.

Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, and its residents are EU citizens. A poll in January showed most Greenlanders prefer to remain with Denmark rather than join the U.S.

Rasmussen served as Denmark’s prime minister from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019. Howery, a PayPal co-founder with Elon Musk, previously served as U.S. ambassador to Sweden during Trump’s first term.