COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned Monday that a U.S. takeover of Greenland would amount to the end of NATO, drawing a sharp line between the strategic Arctic island and alliance security after renewed U.S. calls for control.
Her remarks came in response to President Donald Trump’s renewed push for Greenland to fall under U.S. jurisdiction, after a weekend U.S. military operation in Venezuela that left leaders in Denmark and Greenland alarmed about what they described as potential next steps. Greenland is a semiautonomous territory within the Danish kingdom and thus part of NATO.
Frederiksen said Denmark would treat any U.S. attack on another NATO member as an alliance-breaking event. “If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” she told Danish broadcaster TV2, “That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.”
Frederiksen’s warnings came alongside criticism from Greenland’s leadership. Jens Frederik Nielsen also blasted Trump’s comments, warning of catastrophic consequences, and he urged calm and unity as Denmark and Greenland discussed the implications of U.S. rhetoric about Greenland.
Nielsen, speaking at a news conference Monday, said Greenland could not be compared to Venezuela. He said his constituents were not in a scenario where they believed the United States could seize control “overnight,” adding: “We are not in a situation where we think that there might be a takeover of the country overnight and that is why we are insisting that we want good cooperation.” He further said, “The situation is not such that the United States can simply conquer Greenland.”
Trump has repeatedly called for U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland during his presidential transition and in the early months of his second term, and he has not ruled out military force, according to the report. In Sunday comments, Trump told reporters, “let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days,” a remark that Frederiksen and Greenland officials said deepened fears that the U.S. was preparing for intervention in the near term.
Frederiksen said Trump “should be taken seriously” when he says he wants Greenland, and she said Denmark and Greenland would not accept a situation in which they are threatened. She also said the rhetoric should be treated seriously given the risks it poses for NATO and regional security.
Beyond official statements, the controversy spread in part through public commentary about Greenland’s security position and through posts on social media. The report said Greenlanders and Danes were further rankled by a social media post by Katie Miller, a former Trump administration official turned podcaster, showing an illustrated map of Greenland in Stars and Stripes colors with the caption “SOON.” In response, Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen posted: “And yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark.”
Trump also mocked Denmark’s efforts to strengthen Greenland’s security posture, telling reporters Sunday that Denmark added “one more dog sled” to the territory’s arsenal and arguing that “Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.” He said, “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security,” and that Denmark would not be able to secure it.
A Danish security expert pushed back on that picture of Russian and Chinese presence. Ulrik Pram Gad of the Danish Institute for International Studies wrote in a report last year that while Russian and Chinese vessels were in the Arctic, “these vessels are too far away to see from Greenland with or without binoculars.”
The report also described the existing U.S.-NATO footprint in Greenland. The U.S. Department of Defense operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, supporting missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the United States and NATO. It was built following a 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. Denmark and Washington also maintain defense cooperation on the mainland, including Denmark’s purchase of American F-35 fighter jets.
According to the report, Denmark’s parliament approved a bill last year allowing U.S. military bases on Danish soil, a decision that critics said ceded Danish sovereignty to the United States. The report said the new legislation widened an earlier 2023 agreement under the Biden administration, when U.S. troops had broad access to Danish air bases.