President Donald Trump’s expansionist ambitions for Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, have strained relations between Washington and Copenhagen — a NATO ally that has long fought alongside the United States.
The two countries have enjoyed what the State Department describes as a “close and mutually beneficial” relationship since establishing diplomatic ties in 1801. Yet Trump has continued to insist on the U.S. taking control of Greenland — which has been part of Denmark for over 300 years, initially as a colony — for national security reasons, with the White House saying the use of military force remains an option.
Trump’s continued threats have brought into focus Denmark’s role as one of Washington’s most reliable military partners — one that has contributed troops to U.S. war efforts and participated in multiple NATO missions.
“An attack by one member of NATO on another would obviously lead to the end of the alliance,” said David Trads, a Danish journalist and author of a recent book on the U.S. under Trump, “America Turns the Clock Back.”
“If any other country had threatened us like Trump does, then Denmark would already have asked the NATO council to convene by invoking Article 4,” he said, referencing part of the organization’s charter that allows joint consultations on issues of concern, especially those relating to the security of a member country.
Denmark sent around 9,500 troops to Afghanistan over 12 years during the U.S. war there, according to Danish media. According to iCasualties.org, which tracks military deaths, 43 soldiers were killed in the mission, one of the highest per capita death rates among allied countries during the conflict. Then-Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said in 2013 that Denmark is “is one of the countries that have carried the toughest load in Afghanistan.”
Denmark was also among the earliest active military participants in the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, even when European powers such as France and Germany opposed the war. The Danish defense minister later resigned after questions arose over the accuracy of intelligence reports used to justify the war.
About 500 Danish troops were deployed to Iraq, seven of whom were killed, according to iCasualties.org. When in 2004 Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited the White House, President George W. Bush thanked the Danish people “for their love of freedom, their support for human rights and the commitment of troops to Iraq.”
“The Danish public supported the deployments to Iraq and, especially, Afghanistan for longer and in larger numbers than any other NATO country,” said Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, a professor of international relations at the University of Copenhagen.
“Disbelief has given way to anger, as we see a close ally we have regarded as a force for good becoming a predatory hegemon,” he said.
As a founding member of NATO, Denmark played a key role during the Cold War due to its geographic location. Under U.S. command, Denmark joined NATO’s air campaign against Serbia in 1999 and later sent peacekeeping troops to Kosovo, according to the Atlantic Council. Denmark is also among the founding members of the Global Coalition Against Islamic State, the formation of which was announced by the U.S. in 2014.
Now, as Denmark increases its military presence on Greenland, that partnership is being tested.
Rufus Gifford, a former U.S. ambassador to Denmark, earlier this month posted on social media a message from a Danish veteran who, Gifford wrote, had served in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq alongside U.S. troops: “A soldier never forgets who stood by his side. Nations shouldn’t either.”
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