The Denmark prime minister's comments come a day after the top American diplomat in the country was summoned for an explanation of reports of U.S. intelligence gathering in Greenland.

Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, expressed concern over reports that the United States’ intelligence community is stepping up scrutiny of Greenland amid President Donald Trump’s push to acquire the island.

Denmark on Thursday summoned the top U.S. diplomat in the country for an explanation following a Wall Street Journal report about the United States stepping up intelligence gathering on Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory coveted by U.