‘This is our Brexit': Danes are taking Trump's Greenland threat seriously

Yahoo

19-02-2025

Many have dismissed Donald Trump's plans about buying Greenland as farcical and unworkable – but not the Danes.
The unprecedented threat has sparked fear in Denmark that this is their 'Brexit' moment.
Even if Mr Trump's designs on Greenland come to nothing, and the punitive tariffs he has threatened to impose on Denmark do not materialise, they are anxious that his comments have inflamed the territory's independence movement.
Lawmakers are scrambling to get the message through to Washington, fearing that their prime minister cannot stand up to the impetuous president.
Xavier Dutoit, a Dane who works for a European campaign group, came up with an outlandish scheme while listening to a 'loud American tourist' hold forth about Greenland at a bar in the Philippines.
'That American didn't seem to grasp how unhinged and absurd it was for any country's president – especially in a stable democracy that the USA claims to be – to offer or threaten to take over another sovereign country's territory,' Mr Dutoit told The Telegraph.
From that chance encounter came 'Denmarkification' – a plan to crowdfund $1 trillion for Denmark to purchase California from the US.
The negotiating team charged with buying the Golden State will be led by Denmark's finest, Mr Dutoit claimed: Lego executives, and the cast of the Scandi noir Borgen.
He readily admits that the scheme is ridiculous, but there is a serious point at the nub of it. He wants to show 'how absurd Trump's claims to Greenland really are' and demonstrate that the territory is not for sale.
'Denmarkification', it turns out, is popular in the US – or at least in California, where residents of the deep blue state seem to like the idea of jettisoning their Republican commander-in-chief in favour of a Scandinavian social democracy.
'Even though it was intended as a joke, the very idea of injecting some hygge, rule of law, facts-based politics and Danish pastries seems to appeal to a lot of Americans,' Mr Dutoit said.
He insisted there was a 'serious deal on the table' for Mr Trump. 'He stops his colonial extension, I stop my campaign and we all go back to playing legos.'
Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, had a fiery phone call with Mr Trump where she refused to contemplate the sale of Greenland, while the US president refused to be distracted by offers of more military exploitation and mineral exploitation.
'The Danes are now in crisis mode,' one source told the Financial Times, while another said Copenhagen was 'utterly freaked out by this'.
Some Danish politicians believe their prime minister's hands are tied by the need to maintain diplomatic relations with Mr Trump, and fear the Republican is not getting the message.
Aaja Chemnitz. a Danish MP, last month opted to release a joint statement with Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator and frequent critic, warning that Greenland was an 'ally, not an asset'.
'Of course, a businessman turned president would be interested. But Greenland is not for sale,' they said, arguing that 'the future will be defined by partnership, not ownership'.
Anders Vistisen, a Danish MEP, delivered a blunter message in a brief speech to the European Parliament in January.
'F— off, Mr Trump,' he said, prompting a rebuke from the Parliament's vice-president.
Mr Vistisen, in an interview with The Telegraph, said that the reaction to Mr Trump's plan to take over Greenland among Denmark's political elite was a mix of confusion and paralysis.
The US, a close ally who has acted as a longstanding guarantor of its security and intelligence, suddenly appears to be embarking on a land grab.
Denmark has deferred to Washington on security matters since the Second World War, and suffered significant casualties when it participated in the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, Mr Vistisen said.
'There is a profound sense of betrayal… we have been very good allies to the Americans and been very accommodating to its needs,' he continued.
'I think many politicians really don't know what to do, how to deal with this. There doesn't seem to be that connection between the Danish political elite and the Republican party.'
Mr Vistisen believes Mr Trump wants to be the first commander-in-chief in decades to expand the US' territory – like Andrew Jackson, whose portrait was recently returned to the Oval Office.
Some Danes fear that Mr Trump, by questioning Denmark's legitimate claim to Greenland and driving a wedge into the Kingdom, will inflame its independence movement.
Hans Mortensen, a Danish journalist, compared the situation to Brexit, suggesting that the territory's elections in March would be dominated by calls for seceding from Denmark that could end in a permanent split.
'The demand for an indicative referendum in Greenland could very quickly become a central issue in the election campaign, and if that happens, it would appear that we are on a one-way street,' he wrote.
For Mr Vistisen, the depth of Denmark's relationship goes well beyond Brexit.
Britain only joined the EU, or EEC as it then was, in 1975, whereas the Vikings crossed to Greenland around AD 985.
More than a thousand years later, the Danes fear there is another invader on the horizon – except this time he's from the US.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.