Denmark considered U.S. one of its closest allies. Now many Danes are refusing to buy American

CBC

28-03-2025

When Mette Vennegaard, a retired psychologist living north of Copenhagen, wanted to clear her pantry of all American products, she wrote to Denmark's largest manufacturer of candy and chocolate, Toms Group, asking where the company sourced its almonds from for its popular marzipan products.
Marzipan, a sweet paste made out of ground almonds, is a popular filling in chocolate and a key ingredient in some of Denmark's most beloved desserts.
When the company replied that its supply came from California, which produces 80 per cent of the world's almonds, Vennegaard put the product on her "do not buy list."
She then went even further, posting the letter from the company in a Facebook group, urging other Danes to steer clear as well.
"I investigate the ownership of all kinds of different products," she told CBC News. "If they are American, they do not go in the shopping basket."
Boycotting U.S. products
Vennegaard is part of a surging group of Danes who are trying to cut or reduce the number of American products and services they use — a protest against U.S. President Donald Trump and specifically what appears to be his obsessive determination to take over Greenland, an autonomous territory that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Tens of thousands of Danes have joined a Facebook group dedicated to sharing advice about how to avoid American-made products and instead buy local.
People post about cancelling their trips to the United States or their subscriptions to American streaming services.
Others look for shopping tips, like one woman who wanted to know whether Miracle Whip, a mayonnaise-like condiment, was made in the U.S. and, if so, what a suitable substitute would be.
While the boycott group is a grassroots movement, political experts say it taps into the current mood in Denmark, where the population of nearly six million feels alienated and even threatened by the messaging coming from the U.S., a country that it has previously considered one of its strongest allies.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to annex mineral-rich Greenland, promising its 56,000 residents that Washington could make them rich. In his marathon speech to the U.S. Congress earlier this month, the president said the U.S. would get it "one way or the other."
U.S. delegation scales back trip amid protests
Usha Vance, the wife of U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, was supposed to visit Greenland this week to take in cultural sites and a dogsled race, but after officials in the region called it a "provocation," the trip's itinerary was scaled back.
Vance, who will now be joined by her husband, will only be visiting Pituffik Space Base, a remote U.S. military installation in Greenland's northwest that handles missile defence and space surveillance.
While officials from Greenland and Denmark are viewing the change in itinerary as a win, there is still deep concern about what Trump has said and what he might be intending on doing.
WATCH | Greenland residents protest planned visit by U.S. delegation:
Greenland PM calls U.S. delegation's visit a provocation
3 days ago
Duration 2:01
With U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to take over Greenland, the country's prime minister has called a visit by a U.S. delegation a provocation and highly aggressive. The Americans on the trip include national security adviser Mike Waltz and Usha Vance, the vice-president's wife.
"I'm boycotting products because of the way Trump is conducting himself, including his aggressive treatment of Ukraine ... and threats to annex Greenland," Vennegaard said.
"My grandchildren have been told that for the next four years, there will be no more Coca-Cola, Pringles, American chocolate bars and visits to McDonald's."
Vennegaard joined the boycott group back in February and admits that using Facebook, a company headquartered in California, is unfortunate, but she said it's hard to replace the reach of the platform.
No more Netflix or California wine
Bo Albertus, a school principal who lives just outside of Copenhagen, Denmark's capital, helped create the group. He insists it's not about being against Americans but rather the government they elected.
He began his boycott in January by cancelling his subscriptions to Netflix, Disney, Apple TV, HBO and Amazon Prime. He signed on to a local Danish streaming service instead and dug out his old DVDs.
The California red wine that Albertus used to serve on Friday nights has now been replaced by bottles from Italy.
He said he hasn't been able to find an alternative for his favourite barbecue sauce, but he'll just have to live without it.
"There is no such thing as a 100 per cent boycott," Albertus said in a phone interview from Denmark. "But we are 92,000 individuals who are choosing for ourselves what to do with our money."
The conscious-spending campaign has prompted a renewed interest in Danish and European products.
Denmark's biggest supermarket operator, Salling Group, started marking the labels of all its European products with a black star this month, after getting so many inquiries from customers about where certain products were made.
On the Facebook group, there are posts expressing solidarity with some of Trump's other targets. One posted image, which shows the flags of Canada, Greenland and Denmark, reads, "Red and White side by side."
Trump has repeatedly said that Canada should become the 51st state, and his team's rhetoric toward Greenland continues to escalate.
Trump reiterated on Wednesday that the U.S. needs the strategically located island for international security.
"I think we'll go as far as we have to go," he told journalists. "We need Greenland, and the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark."
Pressure builds on government
Trump, who has been fixated on Greenland for years, suggested in 2019 during his first term as president that the U.S. was looking at buying the territory.
When Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed that idea as "absurd," he called her "nasty" and cancelled a scheduled visit to the country.
Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, a political science professor at the University of Copenhagen, said despite Trump's earlier comments on Greenland, the Danish government is "more than a little surprised" that things are playing out the way they are, and he believes there is pressure building on the government to take a tougher stance.
"We Danes are patient people, but I think that is gradually running out," Rasmussen said in an interview via Zoom.
Denmark has been a strong supporter of the U.S. in the past, and Danish troops fought and died in Afghanistan and Iraq alongside American forces.
Rasmussen said there was a sense that the U.S. and Denmark were close allies and that the countries had a mutual understanding of each other.
For many, that notion has now been shattered.
On Thursday, Frederiksen said that while Denmark really wants to work with the U.S. on defence and security, it is clear that "Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people."
As pressure builds on the government to take a tougher stance toward the Trump administration, Rasmussen said, some Danish citizens are doing just that through their shopping habits.
While Rasmussen said he hasn't been able to give up his California Pinot Noir just yet, he understands why others have.
"We love electric cars in this country, but we aren't really buying Teslas," he said. "People are trying to make their own foreign policy. The only thing they can really do is to talk to one another about it or choose different products."