Adam Warzawa/EPA
A German soldier at the 22nd Tactical Air Base during the start of the mission of the German NATO air policing contingent in the village of Krolewo Malborskie, northern Poland.
“The United States is using its economic power, including threats of high tariffs, to impose its will, and the possibility of resorting to military force – even against allies – is no longer excluded.”
The United States is using its economic power to “impose its will” and threaten both allies and adversaries with military force, Danish intelligence said in a new report.
The Danish Defense Intelligence Service, in its most recent annual assessment, released on Wednesday, states that Washington’s greater assertiveness under the administration of President Donald Trump comes in a context in which China and Russia seek to reduce Western influence, especially North American influence.
Particularly sensitive for Denmark — a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU), as well as an ally of the North Americans themselves — is the growing competition between these great powers in the Arctic.
“The United States is using its economic power, including threats of high tariffs, to impose its will, and the possibility of resorting to military force – even against allies – is no longer excluded,” the report concludes.
“Fragile” allies, China “viable option”, Venezuela
The assessment comes after the publication last week of the Trump administration’s new national security strategy, which outlines and aims to reaffirm American dominance in the Western Hemisphere.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that he supports NATO’s activities in the Arctic and that he will respond by strengthening its military capacity in the polar region.
The report’s conclusions and analyzes echo a series of recent concerns, particularly in Western Europe, about the increasingly unilateral stance of the United States, which, in Trump’s second term, has favored bilateral agreements and partnerships to the detriment of multilateral alliances such as NATO.
“For many countries outside the West, it has become a viable option to establish strategic agreements with China rather than the United States. China and Russia, together with other states with converging interests, seek to reduce the global influence of the West and, in particular, the United States”, reads the report.
“At the same time, uncertainty has increased about how the United States will prioritize its resources in the future. This gives regional powers greater room for maneuver, allowing them to choose between the United States and China or seek a balance between the two”, warns the Danish intelligence report.
The Trump administration has raised concerns about respect for international law in the face of alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific, in what is said to be part of a reinforced pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The Greenland factor
Trump’s desire to see , a semi-autonomous Danish territory rich in mineral resources, become part of the United States, an intention rejected by Russia and much of Europe.
“The strategic importance of the Arctic is increasing as the conflict between Russia and the West intensifies, and the increasing focus of the United States on security and strategic issues in the region will accelerate these developments even further”, says the Danish ‘secret’ report.
Trump also refused to rule out the use of military force in Greenland, where the United States already has a military base.
