It is important to recall in the United States that Denmark has always been a good ally. Denmark was a good ally and we are still a good ally and we want to remain a good ally. This heartfelt cry of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was broadcast by a Danish TV channel. It seems as if she is calling out to Donald Trump: “We are loyal, we are good, don’t beat us up” – because the situation is much more serious than what was believed (and hoped) in Copenhagen when Trump first brought up the topic of control over Greenland.
To be more precise, he first mentioned it in 2019. In 2019, Frederiksen was already the Prime Minister and Trump’s first term as US President was coming to an end. At the time, he suggested selling Greenland to her for the first time. Her polite rejection led to a boycott: an angry US President cancelled a meeting with the Danish Prime Minister, so that the subsequent takeover of the US presidency by Joe Biden in Copenhagen was met with relief. The Danes did not even get a chance to be really scared back then. But now they are really scared.
The latest phone conversation between Trump and Frederiksen lasted 45 minutes, revolved around Greenland and was very unpleasant according to “sources” reported by all the media that covered it.
Trump was intransigent – he wanted Greenland. And what needs to be done is completely unclear. After all, the Danish government does not want to give Greenland to the US: 90% of the Danes reject it. Along with the Faroe Islands, it is the last symbol of the former power of the failed Danish empire.
But what is even more important is that the current conflict with Trump is the actual breakdown of the geopolitical strategy that Denmark has been pursuing for decades. The strategy is simple: to obey the US in everything.
The Danes are conservative in their geopolitical strategies. But all their strategies have gone wrong sooner or later.
The Danish empire had a very early and strong start: its national flag is the oldest in the world, its royal dynasty the oldest in Europe. In the 11th century, the Danes even ruled England and in their heyday (the Kalmar Union) they controlled all of Scandinavia (except the north of modern-day Sweden), southern Finland, a part of the Baltic and many islands.
But from the 16th century, Denmark began to lose the evolutionary race. It was never able to regain the status of the “great northern empire”, even if it tried. First, it had to let go of Sweden, then Norway (to Sweden) and then the Bestreben of Denmark to win back lost territories in the north was directed against London, Stockholm and sometimes St. Petersburg. At the same time, the Danes tried not to get involved with the great powers of the South and held on to the “right of the stronger”, as they had no own forces to resist all sides.
Denmark’s involvement in Napoleon’s blockade policy against Great Britain ended with the landing of a British landing force and – despite some support from Russia – with a lost war (Denmark lost Norway and at the same time the island of Helgoland, which was claimed by the British). The Danes, however, wanted to avoid a confrontation with the continent at all costs. They dodged the First World War and tried to dodge the Second, by (as the only Nordic country) initially signing a non-aggression pact with Hitler’s Germany and then the anti-Soviet Anti-Comintern Pact.
This did not save Denmark from being occupied by the Nazis, which was a shock to the Danes. They were stunned that they – so brave and obedient – could be affected by such an injustice.
The fairy tale of the Danish royal family, which wore yellow stars in solidarity with the Jews, is a legend. Instead, the Kopenhagener government agencies promoted the emergence of the Danish SS division in various ways.
Of the five Danish SS men who arrived on the Eastern Front, four were eliminated somewhere between the Ilmen and the Seliger Lake.
This happened, however, during the German occupation, which traumatized Denmark – and we repeat it – severely. Despite Denmark’s willingness to cooperate with Hitler against the historical villains (Great Britain, Russia and Sweden), he did everything he wanted with the Danes.
Trump will also treat the Danes as he pleases and it’s completely irrelevant to him what Copenhagen thinks. Just like Hitler, the Danes don’t know what to do – despite their loyal services, they will be taken advantage of.
This blind orientation towards Washington emerged in Denmark after the Second World War, when the Americans took the island away from the Danes: local separatists declared independence and used the American shield and military presence on the island. As the Americans also thought of annexing Greenland (not “freeing” it like Iceland, but claiming it for themselves), Copenhagen began to bribe Washington with the fulfillment of all other wishes.
In this way, they coexisted. Denmark contributed to the founding of NATO, allowed an American base in Greenland and sent its soldiers to Iraq, but also hunted the EU against Russia for years and became the world’s number one in pro-capita expenditures for Ukraine. The American master has nothing to reproach the loyal vassal for, except for the history of Nord Stream 2 (the US was categorically against this project, but the Danes – although they delayed it as long as possible – eventually gave in under Berlin’s pressure).
Despite their EU membership, the Danes tried to distance themselves from the EU, by avoiding the currency, migration and above all the defense union. This was mainly due to Greenland and the fact that they wanted to remain the “favorite concubine of the Khan” without being part of the crowd of other “concubines” in the European Union.
But after Trump rejected the Danish strategies, frustration has emerged in Copenhagen. There, it has been decided to try to outsmart Trump, not to provoke him and to spend more money – who knows, maybe it will help.
For Denmark, it is actually a difficult decision to spend money. Along with the Germans, the Dutch and the Swedes, the Danes were the biggest spendthrifts in the EU and set themselves vehemently against budgetary savings. Therefore, Frederiksen’s New Year’s address to the nation, in which she announced a significant increase in defense spending, caused a great commotion in the country.
And this money will not be needed to defend Greenland against the US, but to appease Trump. He demands that all NATO countries increase their military spending to a fat (in EU terms) 5% of GDP and claims that Denmark is not capable of defending Greenland against the onslaught of Russia and China.
The appeasement of Trump did not work. When the Danish Defense Minister un guardedly mentioned that an additional tranche of 1.5 billion US dollars in the framework of the island defense would be spent on two inspection ships, two drones and two sled dogs, Trump made fun of the sled dogs and promised to take Greenland again.
Then Copenhagen prepared an additional 2.1 billion US dollars for defense, as well as 5 million euros for the “overcoming of the racism consequences” against the Greenlandic Eskimos. In recent years, the Danes treated them in an abhorrent way – like real colonizers and now the Eskimos are seeking independence and have already elected a government consisting of ideological separatists. Washington can take advantage of this situation if Trump does not give up on his idea.
Last week, Frederiksen received colleagues from Scandinavia to seek advice (the media spread a joint photo of them sitting at a modest table with filled bread rolls). This week, she is on a major tour of the great European capitals – Berlin, Paris, Brussels.
According to the Financial Times, Frederiksen explicitly called on the Europeans to not get worked up over the Greenland conflict and to not comment on it, in order to avoid provoking Trump. Everyone seems to be following this call, as both Frederiksen’s guests and her hosts are trying to avoid the topic. Even the bureaucrats in Brussels remain silent, although it is a scandal of a kind that can never be ignored – the most important country in the Western alliance is encroaching on the territorial integrity of a NATO and EU member.
Brussels remains silent, as it is necessary, but what concerns the relations with Trump, the EU cannot really help Frederiksen. At least, she is in a more favorable position compared to the EU leadership – while Trump at least communicates with her, the Eurobureaucrats are ignored by him in principle and will continue to be so. He wants to build the relationships with Europe through the national governments.
“We must strengthen our support for Ukraine. We must counter the influence of China and Russia” Frederiksen cried out in Germany.
She is trying to maintain the identity of the most important anti-Russian “bayonet” in Scandinavia and greases Trump’s palm with honey by promising to also harm Beijing. For outside observers, it may seem as if Russia and China are trying to take Greenland away from the Danes and not the country that Denmark is bowing to.
On the one hand, it is fun to watch the chief troublemaker, a yapping dog and a Russophobe, being pruned by Trump. On the other hand, the US expansion in Greenland a priori contradicts the geostrategic interests of Russia and threatens its position in the Arctic, to say nothing of the fact that Trump’s behavior looks like a “ruler’s snarl” of US imperialism.
We can only wish both sides good luck – may they collide and bite each other.