Danes are still trying to figure out what Donald Trump truly wants in Greenland. But Copenhagen’s responses to U.S. designs on its vast Arctic territory offer pointers to fellow Europeans on how to handle him.
A small, rich European country seeks a wide circle of friends to ward off bullies. Danish policy hasn’t changed much in centuries. That Trump’s talk has drawn historical comparison with a British naval "terror” attack that devastated neutral Copenhagen in the days of Napoleon is a measure of Danes’ shocked sense of betrayal; an 80-year-old Transatlantic security blanket has been ripped away, leaving them again exposed to the chill winds of great power realpolitik.
Trump has history with Greenland. During his first term, in 2019, he floated the idea of buying the giant, mineral-rich and strategically located island, whose 60,000 inhabitants are Danish EU citizens with self-rule under the Danish crown, which handles their security and foreign affairs. He was met with derision. Danish leaders called it “a joke.” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it was “absurd.” Trump took offense, called her “nasty,” and abruptly cancelled a state visit. With his defeat the following year, Denmark breathed a sigh of relief. It didn’t last.
Trump began his new term saying the U.S. must control Greenland for vital economic and security reasons. He has since refused to rule out using military or economic force and voiced confidence that “we’ll get it because it has to do with the freedom of the world.”
No one questions Greenland’s growing strategic significance. Global warming is melting ice, opening new shipping lanes, lowering mining costs – and stirring interest from Russia and China. Yet what more, apart from making his mark on the map, does Trump want? The U.S. already has military bases and economic access under a treaty with Denmark, which has a decent claim to have been Washington’s staunchest ally in recent decades. Many Greenlanders want independence from Denmark, but few seem in a hurry – and hardly any want to swap Danish passports for American ones.
Faced with this Atlantic fog, Frederiksen’s Trump playbook might have been taken from “An ABC of dealing with bullies.” The rest of Europe could take notes.
Trump has history with Greenland. During his first term, in 2019, he floated the idea of buying the giant, mineral-rich and strategically located island, whose 60,000 inhabitants are Danish EU citizens with self-rule under the Danish crown, which handles their security and foreign affairs. He was met with derision. Danish leaders called it “a joke.” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it was “absurd.” Trump took offense, called her “nasty,” and abruptly cancelled a state visit. With his defeat the following year, Denmark breathed a sigh of relief. It didn’t last.
Trump began his new term saying the U.S. must control Greenland for vital economic and security reasons. He has since refused to rule out using military or economic force and voiced confidence that “we’ll get it because it has to do with the freedom of the world.”
No one questions Greenland’s growing strategic significance. Global warming is melting ice, opening new shipping lanes, lowering mining costs – and stirring interest from Russia and China. Yet what more, apart from making his mark on the map, does Trump want? The U.S. already has military bases and economic access under a treaty with Denmark, which has a decent claim to have been Washington’s staunchest ally in recent decades. Many Greenlanders want independence from Denmark, but few seem in a hurry – and hardly any want to swap Danish passports for American ones.
Faced with this Atlantic fog, Frederiksen’s Trump playbook might have been taken from “An ABC of dealing with bullies.” The rest of Europe could take notes.
A is for Act Cool
Once bitten, twice shy. Danish ministers have forsworn the knee-jerk ridicule with which they greeted Trump’s first sally into their Arctic affairs. For one thing, insiders are clear that this is no longer a laughing matter in Copenhagen – even if Trump’s objectives and intentions remain a mystery. Word has gone out to officials and diplomats – don’t provoke him. Stay calm.
Frederiksen’s message to the celebrity real estate developer-turned-president is a polite “Greenland is not for sale.” And, in any case, it’s up to its inhabitants, who don’t seem to want a U.S. takeover. Leaders in Greenland are following a similar script. Relations are delicate between Copenhagen and the autonomous parliament in Nuuk. Locals tend to favor full independence. But Denmark provides economic and other support that Greenlanders rely on. The European Union, which last year set up an office in Nuuk, is also offering funds and interest as part of a fledgling, geopolitical EU Arctic policy.
If Trump’s goal is to increase U.S. influence, a quiet word might have found Danes open to easing the expense of running Greenland. His public bluster has done little but stiffen resistance to what most Danes see as the behavior of a bully.
If Plan A for Denmark has been to not react to Trump’s words and wait to see what he does, it’s second line of response has been action to head off some of the president’s criticism. It has ordered three new, high-tech naval patrol ships and other security equipment as part of a 2-billion-euro package to counter Trump’s complaints that Danish rule has left Greenland open to unfriendly behaviour by China, Russia and other U.S. rivals.
The Copenhagen government has also underlined how the post-World War Two Atlantic alliance can still provide security for both nations, along with the rest of Europe. Continued cooperation among NATO allies in the Arctic is the best way forward for a stable peace, it argues. Danes also feel fully justified in appealing to U.S. loyalties. Trump accuses Europeans of freeloading on defence. But, unlike most EU members, Danes can point to substantial material and human sacrifice as a U.S. ally in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.
Frederiksen’s message to the celebrity real estate developer-turned-president is a polite “Greenland is not for sale.” And, in any case, it’s up to its inhabitants, who don’t seem to want a U.S. takeover. Leaders in Greenland are following a similar script. Relations are delicate between Copenhagen and the autonomous parliament in Nuuk. Locals tend to favor full independence. But Denmark provides economic and other support that Greenlanders rely on. The European Union, which last year set up an office in Nuuk, is also offering funds and interest as part of a fledgling, geopolitical EU Arctic policy.
If Trump’s goal is to increase U.S. influence, a quiet word might have found Danes open to easing the expense of running Greenland. His public bluster has done little but stiffen resistance to what most Danes see as the behavior of a bully.
B is for Be Positive
If Plan A for Denmark has been to not react to Trump’s words and wait to see what he does, it’s second line of response has been action to head off some of the president’s criticism. It has ordered three new, high-tech naval patrol ships and other security equipment as part of a 2-billion-euro package to counter Trump’s complaints that Danish rule has left Greenland open to unfriendly behaviour by China, Russia and other U.S. rivals.
The Copenhagen government has also underlined how the post-World War Two Atlantic alliance can still provide security for both nations, along with the rest of Europe. Continued cooperation among NATO allies in the Arctic is the best way forward for a stable peace, it argues. Danes also feel fully justified in appealing to U.S. loyalties. Trump accuses Europeans of freeloading on defence. But, unlike most EU members, Danes can point to substantial material and human sacrifice as a U.S. ally in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.
C is for Call Your Friends
Extolling the long-term future benefits of continued stable, multilateral obligations among states does not seem to be a winning strategy with today’s U.S. administration. Appeals to Donald Trump’s sense of loyalty and gratitude seem equally vain. The third key element in Denmark’s response has been to turn to its neighbours in Europe. This marks a striking break with the past. Copenhagen long placed more faith in Washington for its security than in other European capitals. Denmark’s change of direction is freighted with potential for the wider potential ambitions of the European Union as a global power.
Like their British friends across the North Sea, Danes spent half a century resisting often French-led moves to concentrate EU power in Brussels. When Frederiksen took office in 2019, she railed against increasing the EU budget. Since then, however, she and Denmark have been on a journey. Its route has included her own, and Brussels’ well regarded collective handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. It then saw Copenhagen take a vocal role in rallying EU support for Ukraine. Her response to Trump, confirms her pivot to Europe.
After an unpleasant phone call with Trump, Frederiksen has shown him that Denmark has other friends. She posted a picture of a cosy Sunday dinner at her home with leaders from Norway, Sweden and Finland – a demonstrative act of Nordic solidarity. Then she spent a day flying to Berlin, Paris and Brussels on January 28, securing support over Greenland. An EU summit gathering in Brussels on February 3 may be a moment for the bloc’s leaders to say something further – though the EU strategy for now is to follow Denmark’s lead, keep calm and avoid any provocation.
Like their British friends across the North Sea, Danes spent half a century resisting often French-led moves to concentrate EU power in Brussels. When Frederiksen took office in 2019, she railed against increasing the EU budget. Since then, however, she and Denmark have been on a journey. Its route has included her own, and Brussels’ well regarded collective handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. It then saw Copenhagen take a vocal role in rallying EU support for Ukraine. Her response to Trump, confirms her pivot to Europe.
After an unpleasant phone call with Trump, Frederiksen has shown him that Denmark has other friends. She posted a picture of a cosy Sunday dinner at her home with leaders from Norway, Sweden and Finland – a demonstrative act of Nordic solidarity. Then she spent a day flying to Berlin, Paris and Brussels on January 28, securing support over Greenland. An EU summit gathering in Brussels on February 3 may be a moment for the bloc’s leaders to say something further – though the EU strategy for now is to follow Denmark’s lead, keep calm and avoid any provocation.
Europe rallies behind Denmark
In calling for European solidarity, Denmark is pushing on an open door. Where Britain struggled to rally European sympathy during its South Atlantic war with Argentina in 1982, Denmark faces a threat to overseas territory that truly resonates across Europe, not just with states that still hold colonial possessions. The Greenland issue goes to the heart of concerns about the dependability of the United States as an ally.
Frederiksen told Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, that respecting sovereign frontiers had been the cornerstone of the peaceful international order. Scholz drew a subtle but direct comparison between Trump and Vladimir Putin’s land grab in Ukraine. Speaking initially of Russia, Scholz said in German that borders must not be moved by force – then he switched to Trump’s English mother tongue to add pointedly: “To whom it may concern.”
Behind the scenes, officials are looking at what action Europe might take. France said it won’t rule out sending troops to Greenland. A threat by Trump to target Denmark’s exports with tariffs if doesn’t hand over Greenland has prompted preparatory work in Brussels on trade retaliation by the whole bloc, using the EU Anti-Coercion Instrument.
If Trump’s first term was seen as a storm to be weathered, his return in pomp after winning the popular vote is confirmation that the entire Transatlantic climate has changed. He has his admirers in Europe, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni from Italy and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, and these remain sceptical of calls from the likes of beleaguered French President Emmanuel Macron for greater “strategic autonomy” for Europe. Yet Denmark’s pivot away from Washington and towards Brussels reflects a dawning realisation, including among ordinary European citizens, that in an uncertain and unfriendly world, they should count on each other more than on distant cousins across the ocean.
As Frederiksen and other EU leaders are at pains to stress, Europeans want to keep the United States as an ally. But they need to stand up for themselves. Donald Tusk, who as prime minister of Poland has been among the staunchest advocates both of close ties with Washington and of resisting Russia, wants Europeans to heed Trump’s call for them to arm themselves. Addressing the European Parliament as Poland began its six-month presidency of the EU, Tusk said of the changes in Washington: “The time of comfort is over.” He added: “Don't ask America what it can do for our security. Ask yourselves what we can do for our security ... We are strong and equal to the greatest world powers.”
The coming years will tell whether the shock of America’s transformation under Trump will fuel similar nationalisms in Europe or be the catalyst that pushes Europeans together. For now, Denmark’s tactics over Greenland argue for the benefits of the latter.
Frederiksen told Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, that respecting sovereign frontiers had been the cornerstone of the peaceful international order. Scholz drew a subtle but direct comparison between Trump and Vladimir Putin’s land grab in Ukraine. Speaking initially of Russia, Scholz said in German that borders must not be moved by force – then he switched to Trump’s English mother tongue to add pointedly: “To whom it may concern.”
Behind the scenes, officials are looking at what action Europe might take. France said it won’t rule out sending troops to Greenland. A threat by Trump to target Denmark’s exports with tariffs if doesn’t hand over Greenland has prompted preparatory work in Brussels on trade retaliation by the whole bloc, using the EU Anti-Coercion Instrument.
“The time of comfort is over”
If Trump’s first term was seen as a storm to be weathered, his return in pomp after winning the popular vote is confirmation that the entire Transatlantic climate has changed. He has his admirers in Europe, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni from Italy and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, and these remain sceptical of calls from the likes of beleaguered French President Emmanuel Macron for greater “strategic autonomy” for Europe. Yet Denmark’s pivot away from Washington and towards Brussels reflects a dawning realisation, including among ordinary European citizens, that in an uncertain and unfriendly world, they should count on each other more than on distant cousins across the ocean.
As Frederiksen and other EU leaders are at pains to stress, Europeans want to keep the United States as an ally. But they need to stand up for themselves. Donald Tusk, who as prime minister of Poland has been among the staunchest advocates both of close ties with Washington and of resisting Russia, wants Europeans to heed Trump’s call for them to arm themselves. Addressing the European Parliament as Poland began its six-month presidency of the EU, Tusk said of the changes in Washington: “The time of comfort is over.” He added: “Don't ask America what it can do for our security. Ask yourselves what we can do for our security ... We are strong and equal to the greatest world powers.”
The coming years will tell whether the shock of America’s transformation under Trump will fuel similar nationalisms in Europe or be the catalyst that pushes Europeans together. For now, Denmark’s tactics over Greenland argue for the benefits of the latter.
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