
Copenhagen’s gloomy January climate matches the temper amongst Denmark’s politicians and enterprise leaders.
“We take this example very, very severely,” stated Overseas Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen of Donald Trump’s threats to amass Greenland – and punish Denmark with excessive tariffs if it stands in the best way.
However, he added, the federal government had “no ambition in any respect to escalate some disagreement.”
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen downplayed Trump’s personal suggestion that the US would possibly use army pressure to grab Greenland. “I haven’t got the fantasy to think about that it will ever get to that,” she advised Danish TV.
And Lars Sandahl Sorensen, CEO of Danish Trade, additionally stated there was “each cause to remain calm… no-one has any curiosity in a commerce struggle.”
However behind the scenes, unexpectedly organised high-level conferences have been happening in Copenhagen all week, a mirrored image of the shock brought on by Trump’s remarks.
Greenland PM Mute Egede flew in to fulfill each the prime minister and King Frederik X on Wednesday.
And on Thursday night time, occasion leaders from throughout the political spectrum gathered for a unprecedented assembly on the disaster with Mette Frederiksen in Denmark’s parliament.
Confronted with what many in Denmark are calling Trump’s “provocation,” Frederiksen has broadly tried to strike a conciliatory tone, repeatedly referring to the US as “Denmark’s closest associate”.

It was “solely pure” that the US was preoccupied by the Arctic and Greenland, she added.
But she additionally stated that any choice on Greenland’s future must be as much as its individuals alone: “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders… and it is the Greenlanders themselves who should outline their future.”
Her cautious strategy is twofold.
On the one hand, Frederiksen is eager to keep away from escalating the state of affairs. She’s been burned earlier than, in 2019, when Trump cancelled a visit to Denmark after she stated his proposal to purchase Greenland was “absurd”.
“Again then he solely had yet another yr in workplace, then issues went again to regular,” veteran political journalist Erik Holstein advised the ORIONEWS . “However possibly that is the brand new regular.”
However Frederiksen’s feedback additionally converse to the Danish resolve to not meddle within the inner affairs of Greenland – an autonomous territory with its personal parliament and whose inhabitants is more and more leaning in direction of independence.
“She ought to’ve been a lot clearer in rejecting the thought,” stated opposition MP Rasmus Jarlov.
“This stage of disrespect from the approaching US president in direction of very, very loyal allies and buddies is record-setting,” he advised the ORIONEWS, though he admitted Trump’s forcefulness had “shocked everyone.”
The conservative MP believed Frederiksen’s insistence that “solely Greenland… can determine and outline Greenland’s future” positioned an excessive amount of strain on the island’s inhabitants. “It could’ve been prudent and intelligent to face behind Greenland and simply clearly state that Denmark does not need [a US takeover].”

The Greenland query is a fragile one for Denmark, whose prime minister formally apologised solely lately for spearheading a Fifties social experiment which noticed Inuit youngsters faraway from their households to be re-educated as “mannequin Danes”.
Final week, Greenland’s chief stated the territory ought to free itself from “the shackles of colonialism.”
By doing so he tapped into rising nationalist sentiment, fuelled by curiosity amongst Greenland’s youthful generations within the indigenous tradition and historical past of the Inuit.
Most commentators now anticipate a profitable independence referendum within the close to future. Whereas for a lot of it could be seen as a victory, it might additionally usher in a brand new set of issues, as 60% of Greenland’s financial system relies on Denmark.
An impartial Greenland “would want to make decisions,” stated Karsten Honge. The Social Democrat MP now fears his most popular possibility of a brand new Commonwealth-style pact “based mostly on equality and democracy” is unlikely to come back about.

Sitting in his parliamentary workplace adorned with poems and drawings depicting scenes of Inuit life, Honge stated Greenland would want to determine “how a lot it values independence”. It might sever ties with Denmark and switch to the US, Honge stated, “however should you treasure independence then that does not make sense.”
Opposition MP Jarlov argues that whereas there isn’t a level in forcing Greenland to be a part of Denmark, “it is extremely near being an impartial nation already”.
Its capital Nuuk is self-governed, however depends on Copenhagen for administration of forex, overseas relations and defence – in addition to substantial subsidies.
“Greenland at present has extra independence than Denmark has from the EU,” Jarlov added. “So I hope they suppose issues by means of.”
As Mette Frederiksen has the awkward process of responding firmly whereas not offending Greenland or the US, the staunchest rebuttal to Trump’s feedback thus far has come from exterior Denmark.
The precept of the inviolability of borders “applies to each nation… irrespective of whether or not it is a very small one or a really highly effective one,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned, whereas French Overseas Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stated the EU wouldn’t let different nations “assault its sovereign borders”.
Their feedback gave away the deep concern inside the EU about deal with the upcoming Trump presidency. “This isn’t simply very critical for Greenland and Denmark – it’s critical to the entire world and to Europe as an entire,” MP Karsten Honge stated.
“Think about a world – which we could also be going through in just some weeks – the place worldwide agreements do not exist. That may shake the whole lot up, and Denmark would simply be a small a part of it.”
The Danish commerce sector has equally been engulfed by deep nervousness after Trump stated he would “tariff Denmark at a really excessive stage” if it refused to surrender Greenland to the US.
A 2024 Danish Trade research confirmed that Denmark’s GDP would fall by three factors if the US imposed 10% tariffs on imports from the EU to the US as a part of a worldwide commerce struggle.
Singling out Danish merchandise from the inflow of EU items could be near-impossible for the US, and would virtually actually lead to retaliatory measures from the EU. However commerce trade professionals are taking few possibilities, and in Denmark as elsewhere on the continent big quantities of sources are being spent internally to plan for potential outcomes of Donald Trump’s second time period within the White Home.
As his inauguration approaches, Danes are making ready as they will to climate the storm. There may be guarded hope that the president-elect might quickly shift his focus to grievances in direction of different EU companions, and that the Greenland query might be briefly shelved.
However the disquiet introduced on by Trump’s refusal to rule out army intervention to grab Greenland stays.
Karsten Honge stated Denmark would have undergo no matter choice the US takes.
“They simply must ship a small battleship to journey down the Greenland coast and ship a well mannered letter to Denmark,” he stated, solely partly in jest.
“The final sentence could be: nicely, Denmark, what you gonna do about it?
“That is the brand new actuality on the subject of Trump.”