By declaring its intentions over another NATO member’s territory and threatening tariffs to force European countries into submission, the Trump administration struck straight at the heart of the 77-year-old military alliance.
European leaders, who have long avoided confronting Trump, reacted unusually strongly over the weekend, condemning the threat of tariffs and reaffirming their support for Denmark.
“Threats of tariffs undermine transatlantic relations and carry the risk of a dangerous downward spiral,” said Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom in a joint statement on Sunday (18).
Last week to participate in joint exercises with Denmark.
While it is not necessarily unusual for NATO countries to send military resources to exercises in Greenland, the timing chosen represents a significant show of support for Denmark and .
Trump, for his part, warned in a post on Truth Social that the deployment of troops represented a “very dangerous situation for the Safety, Security and Survival of our Planet.”
Historically, what is the US presence in Greenland?
The United States already has a security base in Greenland, a legacy of the Cold War, when the territory’s proximity to Russia made it an essential monitoring post in the event of a missile attack.
The United States signed a defense agreement with Denmark in 1951, allowing troops to be stationed at a military base that is still used, albeit on a much smaller scale.
Before that, the US tried several times to buy Greenland, most recently in 1946.
The two countries have long maintained a close relationship and “a good base for doing business”, according to Christian Keldsen, CEO of the Greenland Business Association.
“There are no barriers to American investment in energy, mining, tourism and other areas in Greenland,” he told CNN.
What do the people of Greenland think about Trump’s plans?
Trump’s plans are widely unpopular in Greenland. Around 5,000 protesters — a considerable proportion of the territory’s population — showed up in Nuuk, the island’s capital, on Saturday (17), waving signs such as “Yankee, go home” and “Greenland is already great”.
One protester, who did not want to be identified, said: “We do not accept this type of aggression,” referring to Trump’s threats to take over Greenland.
Trump’s frequent stance on Greenland strikes directly at the heart of the territory’s politics, which have long been shaped by Denmark’s colonial legacy.
Greenland was incorporated into Denmark in 1953, amid a wave of decolonization that swept the world after World War II, and received internal autonomy in 1979. In 2009, it achieved self-government, but its foreign, security, defense and monetary policies are still controlled by Denmark.
Greenland’s politicians have promised to take steps toward independence but have not presented a concrete timeline. While not all Greenlanders want to separate from Denmark, few want to exchange Danish leadership for American leadership.
Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen called the U.S. rhetoric “completely unacceptable.”
“When the President of the United States says he needs Greenland and links us to Venezuela and military intervention, that is not only wrong, it is disrespectful,” he said in a statement.
People in Greenland responded by reaffirming their national identity, for example by posting the Greenlandic flag on social media, Greenlandic filmmaker Inuk Silis Høegh told CNN.
“This bothers a lot of people, and a large part of this is due to the feeling of lack of respect coming from the US administration, which acts above us and tries to ‘buy’ us,” he added.
On Monday (19), Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said that this is a line that cannot be crossed.
“It is very, very important that all of us who believe in international law speak out, to show the President of the United States Donald Trump that you cannot go any further down this path. So, forget it. We live in 2026, you can negotiate between people, but you cannot negotiate with people and that rule remains. Forget that path,” said Rasmussen, and added: “You cannot cross this line.”
Still, for a minority of Greenlanders, such as Kuno Fencker, a member of parliament for the most pro-US opposition party, some of Trump’s comments were received relatively positively.
“If he says that Greenland has the right to self-determination or that it could join the United States, that is a great offer from the president of the United States,” Fencker told CNN.
*With information from Reuters
