Trump's Greenland Bid Poses Global Dangers, Says the Woman Facing Him Down
By Matthew Tostevin
U.S. President Donald Trump's push to prise Greenland away from Denmark poses global dangers as growing security challenges imperil the world order, Denmark's prime minister told Newsweek.
Leader of one of Europe's smaller countries, Mette Frederiksen has been thrust into an unexpected confrontation with the world's most powerful president over the giant Arctic island, which she says must decide its own fate. Earlier this month, Trump said he would not rule out the use of force to acquire Greenland on the grounds it is critical for U.S. and world security.
"I have tried to de-escalate the situation, because in this world, with a very aggressive Russia, with a closer cooperation between Iran, North Korea and Russia, helped by China, I will do what I can to ensure that nothing goes wrong between allies and good friends and partners. But at the same time, we have to stick to the most important values and principles," Frederiksen said in an exclusive interview at her office in Copenhagen's Christiansborg Palace.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Newsweek she "will do what I can to ensure that nothing goes wrong between allies and good friends and partners." Kasper Loftgaard for Newsweek
Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, a member of NATO. While opinion polls in January showed the vast majority of Greenlanders sought independence from Denmark, even more were opposed to it joining the United States.
NATO at Stake
"I'm pretty sure that there is a big interest in the U.S., especially from the president, when it comes to Greenland. I'm also listening when officials and representatives from the government are saying that, 'of course, we will not do anything by force,'" she said.
"We have to believe that. Because a situation where an ally attacks another ally would be very, very wrong, and it will challenge not only the relationship to the Kingdom of Denmark, but the transatlantic relationship and that would be, I think, very dangerous for all of us."
Denmark was very ready to help step up security for Greenland and the Arctic in conjunction with NATO allies, she said, but could not accept the principle of big states taking over other parts of the world or another country's territory.
A situation where an ally attacks another ally would be very, very wrong
"It's not only a question about Denmark and Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark. We cannot agree with U.S. on this point, because then we will undermine the world order that we have built up since the Second World War."
The tussle over Greenland came as a shock to Frederiksen, a 47-year-old Social Democrat who has been prime minister since 2019 and grew up in an era of gratitude to the United States for both the help it gave Europe in World War II and the role it had played in the NATO security alliance.
Frederiksen chose her words carefully. She paused occasionally to pick from the carrot and cucumber sticks placed alongside the coffee and tea on the meeting room table as healthy snacks.
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"When you are a true believer in the transatlantic alliance, and by the way, always have been a very good ally to the U.S., it has been quite a surprise to listen to the words coming from the U.S.," she said.
Trade Wars
The tariffs imposed by Trump on Europe to try to redress trade imbalances have been another source of friction. As a member of the European Union, Denmark does not hold separate trade negotiations with the United States.
"I think a trade war will be a problem, not only for Europe, but for everybody, and therefore everything we're doing is to avoid it," Frederiksen said. "What I'm trying to say to our American friends and colleagues is that there are so many challenges globally. At the moment, things are moving in the wrong direction."
I don't think it's fair to ask somebody else to come and defend you if you're not willing to do it yourself
Now it was time to rearm Europe, Frederiksen said: not because the United States could not be trusted, but because Europe had been failing to do enough to defend itself—a theme echoed by officials in the Trump administration who say Europe funded its welfare states as U.S. taxpayers paid for its security umbrella.
"It has been a mistake that after the end of the Cold War that we reduced our military budgets in a big part of Europe. It was a mistake, and maybe one of the most important things right now is to agree that it will never happen again," she said.
"We have to be able to defend ourselves, to deter Russia, and I don't think it's fair to ask somebody else to come and defend you if you're not willing to do it yourself."
Ukraine War
Relative to its economic might, Denmark has been one of the biggest financial supporters of Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022. Frederiksen said it would be "a disaster" if Russia won the war.
If European countries thought the strains on the relationship with the United States should push them toward China, it would be the "wrong answer," she said.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen no2
Prime Minister Frederiksen speaks with Newsweek's Matthew Tostevin. Kasper Loftgaard for Newsweek
"The answer is building a strong Europe and a strong Europe that is open minded and able to work, of course, globally, with different partners, including China," she said.
"To make a strategic choice now, less U.S., more China will be, I think, not the right way forward."
One area on which Frederiksen and Trump may share common ground is immigration. Denmark adopted one of the toughest asylum policies in Europe with broad political support in the face of surging arrivals of people from the Middle East and Africa, some with radical Islamist ideologies.
While it curbed inward immigration, Denmark now faces the challenge of deporting migrants who have committed crimes. In doing so, it has come against rulings from the European Court of Human Rights based on the European Convention on Human Rights.
Immigration Court Challenge
"The court has, of course, the right to be a court, but not to be an activist or not to take decisions. And I think the balance has tipped so we need to be in political and therefore democratic control with the legislation," she said.
"Europe is not able to welcome everybody, and maybe most important now, we have to be sure that we can get rid of people again if they don't behave well. It's not a human right to enter Denmark and do a rape and stay."
Alongside her Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, Frederiksen is now spearheading a push to get the court to make it easier to deport foreign criminals.
Climate Ambitions
Given the multiple global security challenges, Frederiksen voiced concern that climate change could end up being sidelined. Denmark has become a leader in green energy—particularly from the winds that all too often bluster the flat land pinned between the North Sea and the Baltic.
Trump, meanwhile, has voiced skepticism over climate change and declared a national energy emergency in order to ramp up production of coal, oil and gas, which emit the carbon dioxide that many scientists say is causing global temperatures to rise.
"I have this feeling that climate change, the green transition renewables, you know, there's not the focus that just was there a few years ago," she said. "But I really think we have to keep our ambitions of the green transition very, very high."
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