Trump’s Greenland push puts Nordic unity under the spotlight

US President Donald Trump set the cat among the pigeons when he laid out the possibility of seizing Greenland through military force and warned Denmark that its refusal to hand control of the island could result in Washington imposing tariffs on the Scandinavian country.

As a founding NATO member, Denmark has always maintained a strong decades-old alliance with the United States.

However, Trump’s second term began with tension between Washington and Copenhagen due to his expansionist rhetoric about Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Though Denmark and other European nations see Trump’s talk about Greenland as intimidation and bullying, Copenhagen has handled this row with Trump carefully.

Highly dependent on the US for defence, Denmark does not want to excessively inflame tensions with the Trump administration.

Danish officials have signalled their keenness to engage in more dialogue with the US regarding Greenland while expressing openness to a larger American “footprint” on the island.

While being clear to the US about their opposition to Trump’s threatening rhetoric, Copenhagen is working to rally other Western governments behind Denmark and Greenland amid this tense period with the new US administration.

Last month, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen hosted an informal dinner at her house with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gare Stere, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.

Frederiksen posted a photo on Facebook of the four of them dining together. The caption read: “We have always stood together in the Nordic countries. And with the new and more unpredictable reality in which we are facing, good and close alliances and friendships have only become more important. At our meeting today, we discussed our regional defence and security cooperation.”

Although she didn’t mention Trump, the photo sent a clear message to the White House about Denmark’s closest allies standing united behind Copenhagen.

Frederiksen’s recent meetings with British, French, and German heads of state and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels have also sent a similar message about wider European support for Denmark and Greenland.

When asked about Europe taking possible military action vis-à-vis the Arctic island, the European Commissioner for Defense Industry and Space Andrius Kubilius responded, “We are ready to defend our member state Denmark.”

Turbulent times ahead?

All Nordic countries are set to face difficult challenges when navigating their alliances with the US during these upcoming four years.

Although these governments probably never expected Trump’s second presidency to be a breeze, it is doubtful that too many Nordic policymakers predicted that such a row with Washington would break out so early after his return to the Oval Office.

Trump’s rhetoric about Denmark and Greenland gave all Nordic states a “cold shower”, says Tuomas Iso-Markku, a senior research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

“While the Nordics knew that they should be prepared for turbulent times, it is unlikely that any of them had expected things to get so complicated so quickly,” he tells TRT World.

Other experts hold similar views.

“The crisis shows, as once expressed by former French president de Gaulle, that ‘a state has no friends’. This is a shock to Danish politicians and many commentators,” Hans Mouritzen, a senior research fellow at the Danish Institute for International Studies, tells TRT World.

Jeppe Strandsbjerg, an associate professor at the Royal Danish Defence College's Center for Arctic Security Studies and Ilisimatusarfik University in Nuuk, says that many people in the Nordic countries are “trying to figure out what’s going on”.

“There is an anticipation or a little bit of a wait-and-see what’s the rhetoric [about], what is actually going to happen, and how much of what is being said is rhetorical strategy—all of these things. You have to deal with this new way of communicating,” he tells TRT World.

As the Nordic states deal with Trump’s unpredictable and unconventional foreign policy, they can be expected to act pragmatically above all else.

While policy-makers in Copenhagen see Trump’s expansionist rhetoric as a “serious threat” to the Danish kingdom, Mouritzen observes that they are also trying to “please Trump and talk about even closer cooperation in the future”.

He adds that while the leaders of Denmark’s fellow Nordic countries have “no obvious self-interest” in this row, they have “publicly supported Denmark, although in a cautious manner”.

“It seems to be [a] shared view among the Nordics that a public war of words with the Trump administration would be the worst thing that could happen—and it is hard to disagree with this view,” says Iso-Markku, who also observed that Nordic states can do “very few concrete things” other than “conduct some careful behind-the-scenes diplomacy”.

He noted that at the end of the day, it is far from clear exactly what Trump’s goals are and what his administration would be prepared to do in practice vis-à-vis Greenland.

As Finland’s President Alexander Stubb explained, Europe should take Trump’s words seriously, but not literally.

While the photo-op at Frederiksen’s house sent a clear message to the US and the rest of the world about Nordic unity, Iso-Markku says that a “quiet approach has been the chosen strategy so far”.

Although Helsinki is signalling support for Copenhagen, the Finnish leadership has elected not to speak much about the Greenland row.

While Denmark, Iceland, and Norway are founding NATO members, Finland and Sweden formally joined the trans-Atlantic alliance in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

All these countries see the US as their indispensable ally, as Washington provides them with a lot of military equipment. Their bilateral agreements with America are also key to their national defence strategies.

Since Russia launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine three years ago, they have only come to see their alliances with the US as all the more important.

“The Nordic states view Russia as a major and long-term threat for themselves and Europe at large—and see the trajectory and outcome of the war in Ukraine as decisive in determining Europe’s security order,” says Iso-Markku.

“From their point of view, the US…has a crucial role in responding to the Russian aggression by supporting Ukraine and by strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defence in Northern Europe and beyond,” he adds.

However, given Trump’s statements about the Ukraine war and NATO, the Nordic countries can’t take US support for granted anymore.

Nordic unity

Over the years, the Nordic countries have traditionally maintained overlapping interests, albeit with disagreements on certain details. Competition between these countries over certain issues, including their relationships with Washington, has shaped dynamics in intra-Nordic relations.

However, against the backdrop of the recent developments, it is safe to assume that the Nordic countries will strengthen their unity and bolster cooperation. As Strandsbjerg notes, at a time in which the US appears to be pursuing a “more traditional great power unilateral course,” it is reasonable to expect European and Nordic countries to focus more on cooperation among themselves.

Facing the challenges of navigating the current global security environment, the five Nordic states are likely to find more common causes stemming from their aligned views on major international issues.

As a result of Finland and Sweden’s accessions to NATO, all Nordic countries now belong to the Western Alliance, which has brought about a deepening of their cooperation across security, defence, and foreign policy domains.

But NATO will not be the only institution through which these countries depend on each other and strengthen their partnerships.

Iso-Markku holds that the EU will be a key channel for the Nordic countries belonging to the bloc (Denmark, Finland, and Sweden), while Norway’s close association with the EU will prove important, as will their bilateral relationships with the United Kingdom.

He adds that the Nordic countries can leverage all of these links and networks to their advantage if the overall situation with Washington becomes increasingly complicated.

Ultimately, no Nordic state wants to have problems with the Trump administration. Working with the US is the optimal way forward, as Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden’s leaders see it.

“The Nordics hope that by presenting themselves as good partners and allies—as states that take their security commitments seriously, invest in their defence, and possess some valuable assets such as Finnish knowhow in icebreaker-building—they can persuade the US of their importance and create the basis for continued cooperation,” adds Iso-Markku.