"For now."

That's how US secretary of state Marco Rubio responded when asked whether he was "aware that Greenland is indeed part of Denmark" during questioning by Congress.

It was asked by Sarah McBride of the House of Representatives' foreign affairs committee, who grilled Mr Rubio over Donald Trump's repeated pronouncements that the US should take control of the island.

Mr Trump has long advocated for the mineral-rich, self-governing Danish territory to become part of the US and hasn't ruled out using military force. Such action would create an existential crisis for the NATO alliance, of which America and Denmark are members.

He has claimed the Danish military is incapable of defending Greenland from the likes of Russia and China, even though there are already US forces stationed there.

Ms McBride asked Mr Rubio if the US "needs to own land within NATO to defend it".

He replied: "We are actually ‌involved in conversations with Greenland and Denmark on the use of Greenland for collective defence for all of us. It's a key part of missile defence, ⁠but we're involved in those talks ​right now."

"I think we're in ​a good place on it now," he said, adding: "I think we'll have pretty good news at some point."

'Things to be cleared up' at NATO summit

Mr Rubio, America's top diplomat, also predicted an upcoming NATO summit will likely be "the most important" in the alliance's history.

There has been anxiety among Washington's traditional allies about Mr Trump's commitment to NATO, which has forced other members – including the UK – to commit to increasing defence spending.

Mr Trump has consistently lashed out at NATO members since returning to office, notably since he and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu launched their war on Iran, for which there was little support from the likes of Sir Keir Starmer.

Mr Rubio warned there are "things here that need to be cleared up and fixed" when the alliance meets in Turkey next month, with Mr Trump expected to attend.

"These are very wealthy countries that should have the ability to spend more to build up their defences and need to, and this is not unique to President Trump," he said.

"Multiple American presidents in both parties have complained about NATO burden sharing. This is just the first president that actually is doing something about it."

He said the alliance needs to make "significant changes" - and the president "has made that clear".