Copenhagen may be 5,200 miles away from Caracas, but the thrum of the helicopters that grabbed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will have been deafening in the Danish capital.
Trump’s longtime threats to seize Denmark’s territory of Greenland have been widely derided in Europe, mocked even, as outlandish talk that could surely never translate into the United States effectively invading a NATO ally.
But Trump's willingness and ability to capture Maduro — and his suggestion that Greenland and its own vast natural resources may be next — have raised worries that there may be more to this Arctic ambition.
It has triggered the strongest protests yet against Washington’s hostile overtures, including from longtime U.S. allies in Europe.
“No more pressure. No more hints. No more fantasies about annexation,” Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post Sunday.
“When the president of the United States talks about ‘we need Greenland’ and connects us with Venezuela and military intervention, it’s not just wrong. This is so disrespectful,” he added. “Our country is not an object of superpower rhetoric. We are a people. A land. And democracy. This has to be respected. Especially by close and loyal friends.”
Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, was more forthright Monday. “If the United States attacks another NATO country, everything stops,” she told public broadcaster DR, according to Reuters.
“I have made it very clear where the Kingdom of Denmark stands, and Greenland has repeatedly said that it does not want to be part of the United States,” she said. “Unfortunately, I think the American president should be taken seriously when he says he wants Greenland.”
Trump and his team have for months said they want to take over the vast semi-autonomous Danish territory, citing its strategic importance and mineral wealth. After Maduro’s capture, he doubled down on the idea, telling reporters aboard Air Force One late Sunday, “We need Greenland, from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it, I can tell you.”
He mocked local efforts to defend the sparsely populated island, saying “they added one more dog sled” that would be no match for the “Russian and Chinese ships” he claimed were “all over the place” around the territory.
(That rationale is disputed by experts: Peter Viggo Jakobsen, an associate professor at the Royal Danish Defence College, told NBC News that these ships "do not exist.”)
Adding to the alarm, Katie Miller, a right-wing podcast host and the wife of Trump adviser Stephen Miller, posted an image of Greenland superimposed with the American flag and the caption "SOON!"
Though Trump stunned the world by sending aircraft and personnel to grab Maduro in Caracas, intervention in Greenland would arguably carry greater risk of escalation.
Denmark’s NATO membership carries with it the implied protection of Article 5 — the promise that an attack on one ally will be treated as an attack on all. However, the U.S. is by far the biggest contributor to NATO and has historically been seen as the ultimate guarantor behind its pledge of mutual self-defense.
Germany indicated Monday that European allies would be prepared to step in.
“Since Denmark is a member of NATO, Greenland will, in principle, also be subject to NATO defense,” Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told reporters in Lithuania. “And if there are further requirements to strengthen defense efforts concerning Greenland, then we will have to discuss this within the framework of the alliance.”
European leaders are hesitant to criticize Trump — a man on whom they still rely for much of their military defense, not to mention his ever-looming threat of more tariffs. But many were quick Monday to stress that Greenland’s future is “not for others to decide,” as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. France expressed similar "solidarity with Denmark."
Others are harshly critical of their delicate approach.
“We must make it very clear to the Trump administration that threats to them is unacceptable,” said Ben Wallace, former British defense secretary for the now-opposition Conservative Party. He criticized "weak government ministers" for "saying nothing."
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, meanwhile, cautioned that "no-one will take seriously a weak and divided Europe: neither enemy nor ally."
Trump has been threatening Greenland for around a year, and last month named Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry as special envoy to the territory. Denmark’s military intelligence service has also for the first time classified the U.S. as a security risk.
Yet, Trump's capture of Maduro has seemingly focused minds in European governments.
“It made them realize that this is not completely impossible,” Jakobsen said. “I still think it’s very unlikely,” he added, calling the idea “absurd.”
There’s a “huge difference between launching a special forces operation against a country like Venezuela — which is effectively a pariah and is beset with domestic problems — and then doing the same thing in a NATO country that is in an alliance with the U.S.,” he said.
The U.S. can already request additional military bases on Greenland’s frozen soil, and “there’s nothing to prevent the U.S. from making minerals deals either,” Jakobsen added.
“So in that respect, Trump is creating a problem that does not exist,” he said. “Does that mean that I’m then going to rule it out completely? No, because I’ve given up trying to understand what the Trump administration is doing.”
