Danish prime minister: no response to request for phone call with Trump on Greenland issue

Frederiksen, speaking at a news conference at 9 p.m., said that Denmark's government had sent a formal reply to Trump's camp proposing a telephone conversation between the president-elect and herself. So far, she said, the Danish government had yet to receive any response.

Earlier, Frederiksen gathered the leaders of political parties in the Danish parliament. She said that during the past three months, since Trump made his controversial statement, there had been informal dialogues between the Trump campaign and the Danish authorities.

"I would like to follow up on these discussions and it is my hope that we can arrange a meeting between the two of us when Trump has been formally inaugurated as president," she was quoted by Danish news agencies as saying after the parliamentary meeting.

Frederiksen was referring to a series of statements in November 2015 by then-candidate Trump. When asked by a journalist whether he thought Trump's comments would cause problems for US-Denmark relations, Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard told TV2 News that, "There's no reason for now to think that this will turn into anything more than the odd statement it was."

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen made a similar point, telling TV2 News that, "We have to take [Trump's comments] seriously, but we don't need to take them literally."

Trump's comments about Greenland, uttered during a GOP debate, were made in response to a question about Russia. "My only question is, does the United States have to buy the land back?" Trump said. "I would hope not because it cost so much money when we had to give it away. But will we buy it? I don't know. Will we use our military? Yes, absolutely. Will we use economic leverage? Yes, I would."

Frederiksen said her main message to Trump will be to stress the fact that Greenland is an integrated and equal part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

"I hope to make it clear that the relationship to Greenland is a Danish concern," she said. "It's not a foreign policy issue or a matter that should be handled in the context of negotiations with other countries, including the US."

Greenland, which is an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, is the world's largest island, located between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. The Danish monarch is also the monarch of Greenland.

Greenland is not represented in the Danish Parliament, but has considerable domestic powers, although foreign affairs and defense are managed by the Danish government. It is rich in rare earth metals, oil, and natural gas.