Miranda Bryant<\/a>, Nordic correspondent, London, Mon 5 Jan 2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n An attack by the United States on a Nato ally would mean the end of both the military alliance and \u201cpost-second world war security\u201d, Denmark\u2019s leader has warned, after Donald Trump<\/a> threatened again to take over Greenland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fresh from his military operation in Venezuela<\/a>, the US president said on Sunday the US needed Greenland \u201cvery badly\u201d \u2013 renewing fears of a US invasion of the largely autonomous island, which is a former Danish colony and remains part of the Danish kingdom. Greenland\u2019s foreign and security policy continues to be controlled by Copenhagen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, warned on Monday that any US attack on a Nato ally would be the end of \u201ceverything\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf the United States decides to militarily attack another Nato country, then everything would stop \u2013 that includes Nato and therefore post-second world war security,\u201d Frederiksen told Danish television network TV2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Greenland\u2019s strategic location between Europe and North America makes it a critical site for the US ballistic missile defence system. The island\u2019s significant mineral resources also align with Washington\u2019s ambition to reduce dependence on Chinese exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Frederiksen\u2019s comments came after Greenland\u2019s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, made a bracingly direct statement in which he urged Trump to give up his \u201cfantasies about annexation\u201d and accused the US of \u201ccompletely and utterly unacceptable\u201d rhetoric, declaring: \u201cEnough is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThreats, pressure and talk of annexation have no place between friends,\u201d said Nielsen in a social media post. \u201cThat is not how you speak to a people who have shown responsibility, stability and loyalty time and again. Enough is enough. No more pressure. No more innuendo. No more fantasies about annexation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking later at a press conference in the capital Nuuk, Nielsen sought to allay fears of an imminent US takeover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are not in the situation where we are thinking that a takeover of the country might happen overnight,\u201d Nielsen said, speaking via a translator. \u201cYou cannot compare Greenland to Venezuela<\/a>. We are a democratic country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Frederiksen said her government was doing all that was possible to prevent an attack on Greenland and accused the US of applying \u201cunacceptable pressure\u201d, describing it as an \u201cunreasonable attack on the world community\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou cannot go in and take over part of another country\u2019s territory,\u201d she told Danish broadcaster DR, adding: \u201cIf the US chooses to attack another Nato country, everything will stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have said from the beginning that I unfortunately believe the American president is serious about this. I have also made it very clear where Denmark<\/a>stands. And Greenland has repeatedly said that it does not want to be part of the USA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She had been \u201cvery clear\u201d to Trump, in public and private, said Frederiksen, adding that she would \u201cdo everything \u2026 to fight for the fundamental democratic values and the international community we have built.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nielsen and Frederiksen were backed by the EU, which on Monday said it would not stop defending the principle of territorial integrity, particularly when it came to a member of the 27-member bloc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe EU will continue to uphold the principles of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders,\u201d the EU\u2019s lead foreign policy spokesperson, Anitta Hipper, told reporters. \u201cThese are universal principles, and we will not stop defending them, all the more so if the territorial integrity of a member state of the European Union is questioned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But pressure is growing on Frederiksen, who faces a general election this year, to go beyond diplomacy and lay out more concrete plans for how Denmark would respond if Greenland were invaded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament and representative of the Inuit Ataqatigiit party, said although she did not believe an invasion was imminent, Greenlanders should \u201cprepare for the worst\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe should hope for the best and prepare for the worst. That\u2019s the way I see it right now. We are in a situation that is concerning.\u201d Chemnitz said Trump\u2019s latest remarks were \u201cthe worst and most serious\u201d of his threats to Greenland and marked the emergence of a \u201cnew world order\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust a few months ago many of us were seeing the political world as we used to see it, which is that you can have a dialogue, you can have collaboration \u2026 and so on,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the way that the US is talking about Greenland and trying to \u2018collaborate with Greenland\u2019, it\u2019s a totally new world order that we are looking at.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chemnitz added: \u201cThe future of Greenland is completely up to us. I understand that he [Trump] might be interested in having Greenland, but Greenland is not interested in being part of the US.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After refusing to rule out military intervention to gain control of Greenland last year<\/a>, Trump has been relatively quiet on the subject in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the US bombardment of Venezuela <\/a>to capture its president, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, and Trump\u2019s comments over the weekend have renewed fears that he may act on his threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking on Air Force One, Trump refused to answer a question about whether he expected to take action in Greenland, saying he would revisit the subject \u201cin 20 days\u201d before going on to mock Danish defence efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRight now, Greenland is full of Chinese and Russian ships everywhere. We need Greenland for national security reasons. Denmark will not be able to handle the task,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pele Broberg, the leader of Greenland\u2019s pro-independence opposition party Naleraq, said he was not concerned by Trump\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am quite confident the US will protect Greenland as an independent nation when we want to become one,\u201d he said, adding that the Greenlandic government should be in dialogue with the Trump administration. \u201cBesides, the US can\u2019t do anything to us that Denmark hasn\u2019t done already.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last month, Danish intelligence services accused the US of using its economic power to \u201cassert its will\u201d<\/a> and threatening military force against its allies. It comes against the backdrop of increasing tensions in the Arctic as three global superpowers \u2013 the US, China and Russia \u2013 fight for dominance over minerals and other geopolitical assets in the region as the ice melts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nordic neighbours Sweden, Norway and Finland have all expressed their support for Denmark. The Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said: \u201cOnly Denmark and Greenland have the right to decide on issues concerning Denmark and Greenland. Sweden fully supports our neighbouring country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other European allies, such as the UK and Germany, have emphasised that the island\u2019s future lies in the hands of its people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGreenland and the Kingdom of Denmark must determine the future of Greenland and nobody else,\u201d the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, said on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The German foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, suggested Nato could discuss strengthening Greenland\u2019s protection, while the EU reiterated its commitment to the principle of national sovereignty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mette Frederiksen criticises Donald Trump\u2019s \u2018unacceptable pressure\u2019 as Greenland counterpart condemns \u2018fantasies\u2019 Miranda Bryant, Nordic correspondent, London, Mon 5 Jan 2026 An attack by the United States on a Nato ally would mean the end of both the military alliance and \u201cpost-second world war security\u201d, Denmark\u2019s leader has warned, after Donald Trump threatened again to take over Greenland. 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