Denmark sent private messages in recent days to President-elect Trump's team expressing willingness to discuss boosting security in Greenland or increasing the U.S. military presence on the island, two sources with knowledge of the issue tell Axios.

Denmark acknowledged Thursday that it had long neglected the defense of Greenland, a vast and strategically important Arctic island - and one that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has called vital for U.S. security.

The president-elect’s latest proposal places politicians in Copenhagen and the Greenlandic capital of Nuuk in a great bind.