World

(LONDON) — Denmark is open to discussions with the U.S. on how to “fix” the status quo in Greenland, the country’s foreign minister said, after Vice President JD Vance accused Copenhagen of failing to adequately protect the Arctic island during a controversial visit on Friday.

In a post to X addressed to Denmark’s “dear American friends” late Friday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said his nation agrees that the “status quo” in the Arctic “is not an option.”

“So let’s talk about how we can fix it — together,” Rasmussen wrote.

In a video statement, Rasmussen acknowledged the “many accusations and many allegations” about Greenland. “Of course, we are open to criticism, but let me be completely honest — we do not appreciate the tone in which it’s being delivered.”

“This is not how you speak to your close allies,” Rasmussen continued, “and I still consider Denmark and the United States to be close allies.”

Danish and Greenlandic leaders have pushed back on Trump’s desire to gain control of Greenland. They have simultaneously criticized his perceived overreach while seeking to ease tensions by proposing deeper military and economic cooperation on the Arctic landmass.

“We respect that the United States needs a greater military presence in Greenland, as Vice President Vance mentioned this evening. We — Denmark and Greenland — are very much open to discussing this with you,” Rasmussen said in his statement.

The existing bilateral defense agreement — signed in 1951 — “offers ample opportunity for the United States to have a much stronger military presence in Greenland,” Rasmussen said. “If that is what you wish, then let us discuss it.”

President Donald Trump has repeatedly — both in his first term and since returning to office for his second — expressed his ambition to take control of the island. Rasmussen’s appeal for dialogue came shortly after Vance completed his visit to Greenland, which is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.

Speaking to American service members at the U.S. Pituffik Space Base on the northwestern coast of Greenland, Vance said, “Well, the president said we have to have Greenland. And I think that we do have to be more serious about the security of Greenland.”

“We can’t just ignore this place,” he continued. “We can’t just ignore the president’s desires.”

Vance said Trump’s administration “respects the self-determination of the people of Greenland,” but suggested the island would be safer under the U.S. security umbrella.

Greenland is already covered by the Article 5 collective defense clause that underpins NATO, of which both Denmark and the U.S. are members.

“Yes, the people of Greenland are going to have self-determination,” Vance said. “We hope that they choose to partner with the United States because we’re the only nation on Earth that will respect their sovereignty and respect their security — because their security is very much our security.”

Vance accused Denmark of failing to provide adequate security against “very aggressive incursions from Russia, from China and from other nations.”

“Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have underinvested in the people of Greenland, and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change,” he said.

Rasmussen said that both Denmark and the U.S. had done too little in the Arctic since the end of the Cold War. “We all acted on the assumption that the Arctic was and should be a low tension area, but that time is over,” he said. “Status quo is not am option.”

Trump has repeatedly expressed his ambition to acquire Greenland, despite fierce criticism from leaders in Greenland, Denmark and Europe. There appears little support among Greenlanders for his proposal. A January poll by Verian, commissioned by the Danish paper Berlingske, showed that only 6% of Greenlanders are in favor of becoming part of the U.S., with 9% undecided.

The island sits in a strategic position facing the northern coast of Russia across the Arctic Ocean and close to two shipping routes — the Northeast and Northwest passages. Greenland is also thought to be home to a large amount of valuable mineral deposits. Both the shipping routes and minerals are expected to become more accessible as the warming climate causes sea ice to recede further.

“We have to have Greenland. It’s not a question of: Do you think we can do without it? We can’t,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Friday. “If you look at Greenland right now, if you look at the waterways, you have Chinese and Russian ships all over the place, and we’re not going to be able to do that.”

“We’re not relying on Denmark or anybody else to take care of that situation,” he added. “And we’re not talking about peace for the United States.”

“Greenland’s very important for the peace of the world — not us, the peace of the entire world,” the president said. “And I think Denmark understands it. I think the European Union understands it. And if they don’t, we’re going to have to explain it to them.”

ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Molly Nagle and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The State Department said Friday it was officially shuttering the U.S. Agency for International Development, in what could deal a final blow to the beleaguered foreign aid agency.

In a memo distributed to USAID employees and obtained by ABC News, Jeremy Lewin, the agency’s new deputy director and a former Department of Government Efficiency official, wrote that the State Department “intends to assume responsibility for many of USAID’s functions and its ongoing programming.”

The State Department “will seek to retire USAID’s independent operation” immediately and “assess” whether to rehire some unknown number of officials to “assume the responsible administration of USAID’s remaining life-saving and strategic aid programming,” the memo said.

“This transfer will significantly enhance efficiency, accountability, uniformity, and strategic impact in delivering foreign assistance programs — allowing our nation and President to speak with one voice in foreign affairs,” according to the memo.

“It will also obviate the need for USAID to continue operating as an independent establishment,” the memo said.

As part of the move, the memo said, “all non-statutory positions at USAID will be eliminated.”

Trump administration officials, including Elon Musk’s DOGE group, have leading a widespread effort to dismantle the agency by laying off thousands of employees, revoking funding for more than 80% of its programs, and shedding its Washington, D.C., headquarters.

The decision to completely dissolve a federal agency is expected to prompt legal scrutiny, according to experts who said such a move would typically require congressional approval.

In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that the administration was officially moving to sunset USAID and that foreign aid would now officially be administered by the State Department.

“Thanks to President Trump, this misguided and fiscally irresponsible era is now over,” Rubio said in his statement. “We are reorienting our foreign assistance programs to align directly with what is best for the United States and our citizens.”

“We are continuing essential lifesaving programs and making strategic investments that strengthen our partners and our own country,” Rubio said in his statement.

Critics of the Trump administration say its efforts to nullify the agency will cripple American influence overseas and carry devastating effects for some of the most vulnerable populations in the world, which relied on U.S. funding for health care, food, and other basic needs.

The State Department also said that its leadership, along with USAID leadership in place, had notified Congress of their intent to reorganize some USAID functions within the State Department by July 1 of this year.

The overall push to eliminate USAID and the reduction of the agency’s staff is being challenged in multiple court cases.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The search for four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing in their vehicle during a scheduled training exercise near Pabradė, Lithuania, is ongoing Friday, with officials bringing in more assets to help with the recovery mission, the Army said.

The soldiers, who are all based in Fort Stewart, Georgia, went missing on Tuesday while operating a M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle, the Army said. On Wednesday, the 70-ton vehicle was found submerged in about 15 feet of water and mud in a training area, the Army said.

“Most likely, the M88 drove into the swamp,” and the vehicle “may have just gone diagonally to the bottom,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told ABC News via phone.

Sakaliene said Thursday that the search has shifted from rescue to a “complicated” recovery mission.
The Army said crews are “working around the clock to drain water, dig, and dredge the mud that surrounds the vehicle.”

“The area around the site is incredibly wet and marshy and doesn’t support the weight of the equipment needed for the recovery of the 70-ton vehicle without significant engineering improvements,” the Army said in a statement Friday. “Draining the area has been slow and difficult due to ground water seepage.”

“A large capacity slurry pump, cranes, more than 30 tons of gravel, and subject matter experts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are just some of the assets that arrived on site,” the Army said. “The Polish Armed Forces have also volunteered a unit of military engineers, which is bringing in an additional water pump, tracked recovery vehicles, other additional equipment and supplies needed along with 150 personnel.”

A specialized U.S. Navy dive crew is also expected to arrive on site by Saturday, the Army said.

“This will be a long and difficult recovery operation, but we are absolutely committed to bringing our soldiers home,” Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor said in a statement.

Sakaliene said Thursday the Lithuanians will also remain dedicated to the recovery.

“Working with American soldiers has always been close to our hearts,” she said. “They are not just allies — they are family to us.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — An earthquake with a 7.7 magnitude has rocked Southeast Asia on Friday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

USGS is reporting the epicenter of the quake was in Mandalay, Myanmar, but at least three people were killed and 68 others were injured when a building that was under construction collapsed in Bangkok as the earthquake struck the region on Friday, according to Thailand’s National Institute of Emergency Medicine (NIEM), which said there was an unknown number of people still trapped in the rubble.

The extent of the damage in Mandalay — the second largest city in Myanmar — is largely unknown this morning due to it being under very tight state control. However, it is thought that the damage could be extensive since this earthquake is stronger than many other historic quakes — including the Northridge earthquake that affected the Los Angeles area of California on Jan. 17, 1994, which is remembered as one of the most destructive and deadly in California history. Bangkok is approximately 600 miles away from Mandalay and suffered notable damage as well as collapsed buildings.

NIEM said there were approximately 320 construction workers on site when the building in Bangkok collapsed at 70 people are currently missing, according to a statement published on social media. Approximately 20 workers are still trapped in the elevator shaft with the number of deaths expected to climb, NIEM continued.

Alarms reportedly went off in buildings across the Thai capital city when the earthquake hit around 1:30 p.m., according to the Associated Press.

“We were under the main Sukhumvit railway station and we thought a train had crashed on the initial tremor,” a British citizen who is in the Thai capital on a business trip and wished to remain anonymous told ABC News. “But then as it continued, people started to run outside and the hotels were evacuated to the streets.”

The Royal Thai Police said they are helping to evacuate people from buildings across the city into safe areas, according to a statement published on social media.

A video obtained by ABC News from a WeWork office in Bangkok shows water pouring from a rooftop swimming pool as people ran across the office towards the exits.

Two of Bangkok’s main public transportation systems, the BTS — an elevated train line — and the MRT, which is mostly underground, have stopped service as authorities respond to the earthquake aftermath, Thai police said.

Meanwhile, Myanmar’s ruling junta has declared a state of emergency in six regions — Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway, northeastern Shan State, Nay Pyi Taw and Bago – after the earthquake struck the country, followed by a series of aftershocks.

Myanmar is mired in years long civil war, and Mandalay is one of the major cities than the junta still controls.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

ABC News’ Morgan Winsor, Joe Simonetti, Karson Yiu and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(AMSTERDAM) — Five people were injured, including two Americans, in a “serious” stabbing attack that occurred in broad daylight in Amsterdam’s city center on Thursday, police said.

The suspected assailant is in custody and a motive remains under investigation into what authorities are considering might have been a random attack, police said.

The incident was reported shortly before 3:30 p.m. Thursday, with emergency services receiving multiple reports of a stabbing, police said.

The victims were located at various locations near Amsterdam’s central Dam Square, according to police.

“Police are considering the possibility that the suspect may have randomly targeted victims, but the exact motive remains unknown,” Amsterdam police said in a statement.

The victims include two Americans — a 67-year-old woman and a 69-year-old man — police said.

A 19-year-old woman from Amsterdam, a 26-year-old man from Poland and a 73-year-old woman from Belgium were also injured in the stabbing, police said.

Police did not release any details on their conditions.

Officers apprehended the suspect near Dam Square with the help of bystanders shortly after the incident, police said.

The suspect was transported to a hospital with a leg injury and officers are investigating his identity, police said.

“The police investigation is in full swing and is currently the highest priority,” Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said in a statement. “We hope to gain clarity soon about the background of this horrific stabbing incident. Our hearts go out to the victims, their families, and loved ones.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The search for four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing during a scheduled training exercise near Pabradė, Lithuania, has shifted from rescue to recovery mission, according to Lithuania’s minister of defense.

The soldiers, who are all based in Fort Stewart, Georgia, went missing on Tuesday, the Army said, and the M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle the soldiers were operating at the time was found submerged in water in a training area on Wednesday.

“Most likely, the M88 drove into the swamp,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told ABC News via phone on Thursday. “It has the capacity to swallow large objects … this vehicle, weighing up to 70 tons, may have just gone diagonally to the bottom.”

The vehicle may be 5 meters below the surface, Sakaliene said.

Crews are pushing through “a mix of muddy water and sludge” amid the “complicated” recovery, Sakaliene said.

“Hundreds of people are working around the clock — American armed forces, our rescue services and private companies,” Sakaliene said. “We have helicopters in the air, divers, firefighters, canal excavation machines — hundreds and hundreds of people.”

“Our Army divers are there, but even they are struggling,” Sakaliene said.

“We’ve narrowed the location down … but we still have to keep digging,” she said. “We brought a huge, long-range excavation machine and a canal cleaner to move the mud and water. Then we have to hook the vehicle, drag it out and see if there are bodies or materials inside.”

The search is also taking longer because the area is dangerous; a high-pressure gas pipeline runs under the ground where the Army vehicle sunk, Sakaliene said.

“We had to depressurize it before bringing in heavy equipment,” Sakaliene said. “We had to build a kind of alley, so the heavy machines could come through safely.”

Sakaliene said the Lithuanians will remain dedicated to the recovery.

“Working with American soldiers has always been close to our hearts,” she said. “They are not just allies — they are family to us.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — Multiple people are dead and nearly two dozen injured after a tourism submarine crashed in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, officials said.

The crash occurred Thursday morning, less than a mile off the coast of Hurghada, during an underwater excursion to see the coral reef, according to the Russian consulate in Hurghada.

Six people — all Russian nationals — were killed, according to the Red Sea Gov. Gen. Amr Hanafy.

Twenty-three people were transported to area hospitals with injuries including wounds, bruises, sprains and shortness of breath, according to the governor. Four of the patients were in intensive care, he said.

The submarine was carrying 50 people total at the time, according to Hanafy. There were 45 tourists of various nationalities — including Russian, as well as Indian, Norwegian and Swedish — and five Egyptian crew members, he said.

Local authorities are investigating the cause of the accident and are in communication with the crew, Hanafy said.

The submarine is owned by an Egyptian national and held a valid license and necessary certifications, according to Hanafy.

Hurghada is a popular tourist destination for beachgoers along the Red Sea and is well known for its scuba diving and snorkeling.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

ABC News’ Morgan Winsor and Nasser Atta contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — At least four people are dead in a submarine accident that occurred while it was carrying crew members and 45 Russian tourists in Egypt, officials said.

Russia’s embassy in Egypt confirmed in a statement obtained by ABC News that there was an accident on Thursday morning involving a submarine carrying crew members and 45 tourists — all Russian citizens — in the Red Sea less than a mile off the coast of Hurghada, Egypt.

At least four of those aboard the submarine were killed in the incident, the Russian embassy said.

Doctors in the emergency department at the Royal Hospital Hurghada confirmed to ABC News that they received five patients from a submarine accident on Thursday.

The circumstances remain unclear, including whether the submarine was submerged at the time and the numbers of those who have been injured in the incident.

It is also currently not known how many people were on board the submarine at the time of the accident or what the cause might have been.

Hurghada is a popular tourist destination for beachgoers along the Red Sea and is well known for its scuba diving and snorkeling.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

ABC News’ Morgan Winsor and Nasser Atta contributed to this report.
 

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — Russian strikes injured five people, damaged homes and a gas pipeline in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson overnight on Wednesday, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

Prokudin added that one Russian strike drone was shot down over the Kherson region — most of which is occupied by Russian forces, with the region bisected by the frontline marked by the Dnieper River — and that one woman was killed by a drone attack on Thursday morning.

Ivan Fedorov, the governor of the southern Zaporizhzhia region — which is also partially occupied by Russia — said local frontline communities were left without electricity due to overnight shelling. More than 3,300 customers were affected, Fedorov said in a post to Telegram.

In the northwestern Kharkiv region, close to the front line, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said 11 people were injured in a “massive” drone attack. Several homes and industrial sites were damaged, he said.

In the central city of Dnipro, the local military administration reported multiple fires caused by drone impacts. “Enterprises, educational and cultural institutions, more than a dozen high-rise buildings were damaged in the city,” it said on Telegram. “More than 60 cars were damaged, several more were destroyed. Two trucks were also hit.”

Overall, Ukraine’s air force reported one missile and 86 drones launched into the country overnight. The force said on Telegram that 42 drones were shot down and 26 lost in flight without causing damage. Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk and Chernihiv regions were impacted, it said.

Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram that recent Russian strikes suggested the use of “swarms” of attack drones against specific cities to overwhelm local defenses.

Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down one Ukrainian drone over the western Bryansk region. The ministry said the drone caused a power outage. It also said there was an attempt to attack ground equipment at the Glebovsky underground gas storage facility in occupied Crimea and shelling of a transformer substation in Bryansk.

Cross-border strikes have continued despite progress on a U.S.-brokered partial ceasefire intended to freeze military action in the Black Sea and pause long-range attacks on energy infrastructure facilities in both countries.

Following talks in Saudi Arabia this week, the White House said the parties agreed to “develop measures to implement the agreement to ban strikes against energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine.”
The Kremlin said its moratorium began on March 18, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s communications advisor said Russia hit Ukrainian energy infrastructure eight times since that date.

Zelenskyy said on Wednesday there had been no attacks on energy infrastructure in either country since Tuesday, when Ukraine and Russia agreed to pause strikes following the latest round of talks in Riyadh.

The White House framed the partial ceasefire as a victory in its broader push for peace in Ukraine. But concerns remain in Kyiv that President Donald Trump’s administration is too aligned with Moscow’s narrative on the conflict.

This week, Trump Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff — who has been central to talks with both Moscow and Kyiv — echoed misleading Russian talking points, for example suggesting that the Russia’s claimed annexation of five Ukrainian territories — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea — had the support of the local population.

During a press conference with reporters in Paris on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said Witkoff “often cites the Kremlin narrative.”

“I think that this does not get us close to peace, I think this sadly will weaken the pressure of the U.S. on the Russian Federation,” he added. “I have spoken with President Trump more than once — we are trying to share real and truthful information since Witkoff’s declarations disturbs us a lot since we are fighting Putin and we do not want him to receive support .”

“I have always said to President Trump that we want the U.S. to be on our side,” Zelenskyy said. “And even if the U.S. has chosen to be in the middle then they need to stay in the middle and not come closer to the Kremlin.”

ABC News’ Anna Sergeeva, Nataliia Popova, Oleksiy Pshemyskiy, Ellie Kaufman and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.

 

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — President Donald Trump said the U.S. will “go as far as we have to go” to get control of Greenland, ahead of a planned visit to the Arctic island by Vice President JD Vance that has prompted criticism from Greenland and Denmark.

Vance, second lady Usha Vance and Energy Secretary Chris Wright will lead the U.S. delegation to visit the Pituffik military space base in the northwest of the island, having scaled back plans for a broader and longer visit. The American group was originally planning to visit the Greenlandic capital, Nuuk, and a dog sled race.

Trump showed no indication of softening his ambition to take control of the island, which is an autonomous territory but part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

“We need Greenland for national security and international security,” Trump said, taking reporters’ questions in the Oval Office.

“So we’ll, I think, we’ll go as far as we have to go,” he continued. “We need Greenland. And the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark. Denmark has to have us have Greenland. And, you know, we’ll see what happens. But if we don’t have Greenland, we can’t have great international security.”

Trump added, “I view it from a security standpoint, we have to be there.”

Trump also said that he understood “JD might be going,” referring to the vice president, but did not offer any details about the trip. Vance is expected to travel to Greenland on Friday.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede earlier this week called the upcoming visit by U.S. officials part of a “very aggressive American pressure against the Greenlandic community” and called for the international community to rebuke it.
After the U.S. announced that the visit would be pared back to only include the Pituffik base, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the decision was “wise.”

Trump has repeatedly — in both his first and second terms — raised the prospect of the U.S. obtaining Greenland, whether through purchase or other means. During his March speech to a joint session of Congress, Trump said the U.S. would acquire the strategic territory “one way or the other.”
Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede dismissed Trump’s remarks. “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders,” he wrote on social media.

“We are not Americans, we are not Danes because we are Greenlanders. This is what the Americans and their leaders need to understand, we cannot be bought and we cannot be ignored.”

ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.