The late-night operation by US forces in Caracas aimed at capturing leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife left the international community shocked and raised alarms in Denmark and Greenland, the latter being a semiautonomous region of the Danish realm and a NATO member.
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Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart, Jens Frederik Nielsen, criticized the president’s comments and warned of dire consequences. Many European leaders expressed their support for their stance.
“If the United States decides to militarily attack another NATO country, then everything comes to a halt,” Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster TV2 on Monday. “This includes our NATO alliance and thus the security that has been maintained since the end of World War II.”
20-day timeline intensifies fears
Throughout his presidential transition and the early months of his second term, Trump frequently called for US jurisdiction over Greenland and did not dismiss the possibility of using military force to claim the island. His comments on Sunday (January 4), including the remark “let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days,” heightened apprehensions that the US might be planning an imminent intervention in Greenland.
Frederiksen emphasized that Trump “should be taken seriously” regarding his interest in Greenland. “We will not accept a situation where we and Greenland feel threatened in this manner,” she asserted.
Nielsen, during a news conference on Monday, pointed out that Greenland cannot be equated with Venezuela. He urged his constituents to remain calm and united.
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“We are not in a situation where we anticipate an overnight takeover of the country, which is why we are advocating for fruitful cooperation,” he stated.
Nielsen continued: “The situation is not such that the United States can simply conquer Greenland.” Political journalist Ask Rostrup from TV2 noted in a live blog on Monday that previously, Mette would have outright rejected the idea of an American takeover of Greenland. However, he remarked that the escalating rhetoric has necessitated her acknowledgment of that possibility.
Trump criticizes Denmark’s security efforts in Greenland
On Sunday, Trump also mocked Denmark’s attempts to enhance Greenland’s national security, stating that the Danes had merely added “one more dog sled” to the Arctic territory’s defense setup.
“It’s so strategic right now,” Trump told reporters as he returned to Washington from Florida. “Greenland is filled with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.” He added: “We need Greenland for national security, and Denmark will not be able to handle it.” However, Ulrik Pram Gad, a global security expert at the Danish Institute for International Studies, reported last year that while “there are indeed Russian and Chinese ships in the Arctic, these vessels are too distant to be observed from Greenland, even with binoculars.”
US space base in northwestern Greenland
This past weekend, Greenlanders and Danes were further upset by a social media post from former Trump administration official-turned-podcaster Katie Miller following the raid.
The post featured an illustrated map of Greenland adorned in the colors of the Stars and Stripes, with the caption: “SOON.” “And yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” stated Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark’s chief envoy in Washington, in response to Miller, who is married to Trump’s influential deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
The US Department of Defense manages the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, established under a 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. This base supports missile warning, missile defense, and space surveillance operations for both the US and NATO.
On the Danish mainland, the partnership between the US and Denmark has been enduring. The Danes procure American F-35 fighter jets, and just last year, Denmark’s parliament authorized a bill permitting US military bases on Danish territory.
Critics argue that this legislative action undermines Danish sovereignty. The new law expands upon a previous military agreement made in 2023 with the Biden administration that grants US troops broad access to Danish air bases across the Scandinavian nation.
