Absurd Claims: Denmark PM Rejects Trump’s Greenland Justifications

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has characterized President Trump’s claims about Greenland as “absurd,” delivering one of her sharpest rebukes to the American leader’s territorial ambitions and underlying justifications. Frederiksen’s assessment directly challenges Trump’s national security arguments and dismisses his assertion that Denmark cannot adequately protect the strategically vital Arctic territory from foreign threats.
Frederiksen demanded that Washington cease “threatening its historical ally,” emphasizing the eight-decade partnership between the United States and Denmark that has served both nations’ security interests. Her characterization of Trump’s claims as absurd came alongside an unprecedented warning that any US military action against Greenland would completely destroy NATO and the entire post-World War II transatlantic security framework that has maintained peace and prosperity.
Trump has justified his Greenland ambitions by arguing that Russian and Chinese ships are “all over” the territory’s coastline, creating vulnerabilities that Denmark supposedly cannot address. However, China’s foreign ministry rejected these assertions as fabricated, urging Washington to “stop using the so-called China threat as an excuse to seek personal gain.” Greenland’s parliamentary representative similarly accused Trump of “spreading lies about Chinese and Russian warships.”
The Danish prime minister’s harsh assessment came after Trump’s military intervention in Venezuela, where American forces seized President Nicolas Maduro and announced indefinite US control over the nation’s oil resources. This aggressive precedent has intensified European concerns that Trump might employ similar tactics against Greenland despite Denmark’s NATO membership and the existing cooperative security arrangements that already provide the United States with military access to the Arctic territory.
Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen publicly demanded Trump cease his pressure campaign and respect international law, while maintaining openness to dialogue through proper diplomatic channels. European nations have unified in support of Denmark, with the EU, Britain, France, and Nordic countries all affirming that only Greenland and Denmark possess authority over the territory’s future. The crisis escalated when Katie Miller, wife of Trump adviser Stephen Miller, posted imagery depicting Greenland in American flag colors, which Nielsen condemned as disrespectful to Danish sovereignty and alliance relationships.