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The top Washington-based diplomats for Greenland and Denmark met with White House officials at the National Security Council today as Greenland continues to publicly and privately insist it is not for sale.

Denmark's Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen and Greenland's head of representation to the US, Jacob Isbosethsen, met with Trump advisors, diplomats familiar with the matter told CNN.

President Donald Trump has been proclaiming that he wants to purchase Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, since 2019.

READ MORE: US federal immigration agents shoot and injure two people in car outside hospital in Portland

But neither he nor anyone in either of his administrations has ever privately broached the idea directly with Danish or Greenlandic officials, the diplomats familiar told CNN, despite White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying on Wednesday that the administration is "actively" discussing a potential purchase.

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment about the meeting.

Even as Trump has repeatedly raised the spectre of using the military to take Greenland by force, behind the scenes, the US's relationship with Nuuk and Copenhagen remained business-as-usual for most of last year, the people said.

The message that Greenland received from Trump administration officials throughout last summer was that there was no policy directive for US officials to work towards taking the island, the diplomats said.

Danish and Greenlandic officials were blindsided, therefore, when Trump appointed a special envoy to Greenland in December who said his role is aimed at making Greenland "a part of the US".

Danish and Greenlandic officials have still not heard from the envoy, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, the diplomats said.

So when earlier this week Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, announced on CNN that it was now the "policy" of the US to acquire Greenland – adding that nobody would fight the US military "over the future of Greenland" and questioning Denmark's right to claim the territory – Denmark and Greenland were irate.

They immediately requested a high-level meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rubio is scheduled to meet with the foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark in Washington next week.

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Trump's renewed focus on Greenland comes just days after he authorised a military operation to capture the president of Venezuela.

The operation has heightened concerns among Danish and Greenlandic officials about Trump's potential willingness to seize Greenland.

But much like a possible purchase, the US has never directly raised the threat of military force with Danish or Greenlandic officials, either, the diplomats said – even as the White House has telegraphed publicly that it hasn't taken military action off the table.

Rubio, meanwhile, told lawmakers earlier this week that Trump was interested in buying Greenland and downplayed the possibility of any forthcoming US military intervention to take the island by force, sources familiar with the briefing told CNN.

Officials from Greenland and Denmark have made clear both publicly and privately, however, that they will not even entertain conversations about any mechanism that could enable the sale of Greenland to the US, saying that a population cannot simply be purchased.

Greenland is also not interested in a free-association agreement, the diplomats said.

Greenland's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a statement on Monday: "The current and repeated rhetoric coming from the United States is entirely unacceptable. When the President of the United States speaks of 'needing Greenland' and links us to Venezuela and military intervention, it is not only wrong. It is disrespectful."

The top diplomats who visited the White House also met with lawmakers throughout the week and reiterated their message that they had no plans to negotiate a sale to the US.

Senator Roger Wicker, the GOP chair of the Senate Armed Services committee, told reporters after meeting the diplomats that it is Denmark's "prerogative and right" to refuse talks over the sale of the semiautonomous territory.

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He argued the US should focus on other "great opportunities" to enhance the country's relationship with Denmark and Greenland.

Still, officials from Greenland remain worried about the Trump administration potentially using coercion – with economic tools or intelligence operations – to force them to entertain conversations that they are unwilling to have, diplomats said.

During the Rubio meeting next week, it is likely that the foreign ministers from both places reiterate Greenland's willingness to work with the US on national security and minerals extraction efforts, underscoring that there are agreements already in place that would enable joint efforts to expand.

Whether or not Trump can be convinced that US national security interests can be protected with the relationship in the current status remains unclear.

He has made the case that taking over the island is a national security imperative – citing concerns about the Chinese and Russian presence in the region.

Trump also believes that ownership is in his view "psychologically needed for success" when it comes to the island, he told the New York Times this week.

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US federal immigration agents have shot and injured two people in a car outside a hospital in Portland, Oregon, just a day after an officer shot dead a woman in Minneapolis.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said agents conducted a "targeted" stop of a car believed to contain two people associated with the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang about 2.19pm local time today. 

"When agents identified themselves to the vehicle occupants, the driver weaponised his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents," the department said in a statement.

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"Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot. The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene."

Homeland Security alleged the passenger is an illegal immigrant from Venezuela with connections to the gang's prostitution ring and involved in a shooting in Portland, while the driver is believed to be a member of the same gang.

Portland Police said they were called to a shooting at the 10200 block of Southeast Main Street in Hazelwood, outside Adventist Health Portland, and confirmed federal agents were involved.

Shortly later, they received a call that a man who had been shot was asking for help in the nearby Northeast 146th Avenue and East Burnside area.

Officers arrived to find a man and woman with gunshot wounds and applied a tourniquet as they called for paramedics.

The pair were taken to hospital in unknown conditions. 

READ MORE: FBI won't co-operate with state investigators in Minneapolis ICE shooting case

"We are still in the early stages of this incident," Portland Police Chief Bob Day said.

"We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more."

Yesterday, an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, 37, in her car while she was on a residential street near her home in Minneapolis.

Confronting video captured by bystanders showed the agents blocking a doctor from providing her with medical help.

President Donald Trump and senior members of the White House have defended the agent's actions, with Vice President JD Vance going as far as saying he had "absolute immunity".

The 10200 block of Southeast Main Street and the Northeast 146th Avenue and East Burnside area have been blocked off for police investigation.

READ MORE: ICE agents blocked doctor from helping shot Minneapolis woman

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, who has been outspoken in his opposition to Trump's move to deploy the National Guard to the city, condemned the administration in a strong and emotional statement, saying federal militarisation undermines public safety.

"Just one day after the horrific violence in Minnesota at the hands of federal agents, our community here in Portland is now grappling with another deeply troubling incident," he said.

"We cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts. Portland is not a 'training ground' for militarised agents, and the 'full force' threatened by the administration has deadly consequences.

"As mayor, I call on ICE to end all operations in Portland until a full investigation can be completed.

"I will use every legal and legislative tool available to protect our residents' civil and human rights."

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Wilson called on residents not to respond to violence with violence and asked them to show up with calm and purpose during this time.

"We must stand together to protect Portland," he said.

Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley said he had huge concerns over the shooting and was working to get answers.

"Please keep protests of Trump's ICE/CBP peaceful, as Trump wants to generate riots. Don't take the bait," he said.

Trump this week ordered the remaining National Guards in Portland to stand down, but warned he would redeploy them to the city if crime rises.

"Portland, we got it down to almost no crime. We can go back. We're allowed to go back in, but we'll go back in when the crime starts," he told reporters on Monday.

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It was one of several blazes crews across the Bay of Plenty battled on Thursday.