Denmark would go to war with US over Greenland: MP

https://www.newsweek.com/denmark-would-go-to-war-with-us-over-greenland-lawmaker-11384411

34 Comments

  1. Ellie Cook | Senior Defense Reporter

    American soldiers would end up fighting Danish troops if President Donald Trump orders the U.S. military to seize Greenland by force, a Danish politician has said.

    “If there is an invasion by American troops, it would be a war, and we would be fighting against each other,” Rasmus Jarlov, a member of Copenhagen’s parliament with the opposition conservative party and the chair of the defense committee, told CNN.

    Read more: [https://www.newsweek.com/denmark-would-go-to-war-with-us-over-greenland-lawmaker-11384411](https://www.newsweek.com/denmark-would-go-to-war-with-us-over-greenland-lawmaker-11384411)

  2. barnibusvonkreeps on

    Canada here, I hope we would join them along with all the other non-neo Nazi NATO countries. This can’t happen, Venezuela shouldn’t have happened either. Trump needs to be stopped yesterday.

  3. ScotlandTornado on

    I truly don’t think anything will come out of this but there is a 0% chance Danish military personnel engage in a life or death fight in Greenland vs the United States military

    It’s not going to happen. Denmark didn’t even fight the Nazis in WW2 when they invaded their homeland. They certainly aren’t going to fight on an icecap

  4. iCallMyOppsNinjer on

    Funny how the article admits Denmark hasn’t really built up much in the way of Arctic defense and now suddenly a lawmaker is talking about going to war with the US if we “invade”. Guess they figured out too late that Arctic sovereignty isn’t just about pretty press releases and tweets! 

    Meanwhile, maybe the real mission of those two French lads sent up there wasn’t Arctic strategy at all more like a crash course in “how to surrender properly 101”. 🤷‍♂️

  5. Of all Trump shenanigans, this one demonstrates most obviously the danger of the personalist form of leadership. Everyone thinks it’s a bad idea… but naysayers have all been dealt with already. No one left with the stones to contradict The Leader.

    Europe of late, demonstrates the drawbacks of leaning to hard into the committee form of leadership. Their difficulty in mounting a *strategic* prosecution of the Russia conflict is the big example. We can see that at the EU, states, and also at other levels.

    We need to find new ways to seek balances.

  6. No, they wouldn’t. And neither would the U.S.

    This is just Loseweek selling clicks with fear.

  7. For the people not in the know, neither this guy nor his party is part of the government. He speaks with zero authority whatsoever.

  8. Illustrious_Range_43 on

    Where was all this when Russia invaded Ukraine? Or even back when they invaded Crimea?

  9. Whats the chance that the military, officers, generals etc just say no if Trump would actually invade? There were reports that generals are already saying no to Trumps plans and saying its like dealing with a 5yo.

  10. History rhymes- 1930s inevitable march to war to defeat a madman leading a crazy extremist movement that think they are ‘normal’.

  11. Be a quick war. Denmark puts most of its money into healthcare, not its military. Be WW2 all over again. Does it even have a thousand troops? What military it does have is based on US battlefield management systems. War will be over in less than 24 hours.

  12. Typical_Response6444 on

    Hopefully europe starts talking like this more and more. Its the only language bullies understand.

  13. I don’t think Denmark can defend against US invasion. At best they can do economic sanctions on USA with the help of Europe but it can also fall back looking at their dependencies on US.

  14. MarinerMooseismydad on

    Our president is a childish buffoon and I disagree with almost everything he says and does, but Denmark has no shot against our military…. Nobody does.

  15. How long that war may last? Fifteen minutes? Last time I checked that Denmark surrendered after some five to six hours when Nazi Germany invades Jutland.

  16. GlasnostBusters on

    Denmark is going to FAFO. This ain’t Russia vs. Ukraine. Our weapons are home grown and infinite.

  17. America has always recognized Greenland as Danish…

    I keep seeing this idea floating around that the US never officially recognized Denmark’s full sovereignty over Greenland, or that the US somehow has a dormant claim to it.

    That is historically false. We didn’t just “let it happen”—we explicitly signed away our objections in exchange for the Virgin Islands. If you want the primary sources, here are the actual treaties and declarations where the US put it in writing.

    1. ⁠The “Receipt” for the Virgin Islands (1916) The big one is the Lansing Declaration of 1916. Back when we bought the Danish West Indies (now the US Virgin Islands), Denmark wouldn’t sell unless we agreed to stop contesting their claim to Northern Greenland. Secretary of State Robert Lansing signed this declaration to close the deal:

    “The Government of the United States of America will not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland.”

    That was the trade: We got St. Thomas and St. Croix; they got clear title to Greenland.

    2. The WWII Agreement (1941) Even when the Nazis occupied Denmark and the US moved in to protect Greenland, we didn’t claim it. In fact, the 1941 Agreement on the Defense of Greenland went out of its way to remind everyone whose land it was.

    Article I is crystal clear:

    “The Government of the United States of America reiterates its recognition of and respect for the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark over Greenland.”

    3. The Cold War Treaty (1951) This is the treaty that is still in force today (it’s why we have Pituffik Space Base). The 1951 Defense of Greenland Agreement isn’t about ownership; it’s a guest/host agreement. Article 6 explicitly says US personnel are guests subject to Danish sovereignty:

    “Due respect will be given by the Government of the United States of America and by United States nationals in Greenland to all the laws, regulations and customs pertaining to the local population and the internal administration of Greenland…”

    TL;DR: We traded our claim for the Virgin Islands in 1916 and have signed multiple defense treaties since then officially recognizing it as Danish territory.

  18. I think Denmark should fire at any US troops encroaching Greenland even if they’d lose that battle

    If the US retaliates, it will cause political turmoil in the US and will bring Trump down. In case it doesn’t and this leads to a broader war, Americans will deserve whatever comes at them. They can’t sit passive and not take down Trump

  19. Don’t need force. The U.S. should stay away from the tiny capital of Nuuk and its population of 56,000, almost all situated in the southwest. There are journalists here waiting to document trouble.

    The U.S. had more than a dozen military bases across the massive of expanse of this island in WWII. At least one or two of them will be refurbished. U.S. activities would take place across empty parts of Greenland. We also have existing Pituffik Space Base to beef up.

    If Denmark or NATO sends a flotilla 2,000 miles from Europe to try to evict the U.S. and the thousands of workers and contractors the U.S. will import for its projects, we will peacefully rebuff those efforts. A gorilla does not have to stomp on ants nibbling on its feet.

  20. Puzzleheaded-Fan-452 on

    The Danish army must defend against possible aggression, otherwise it would not even make sense to have an army.

    The main problem is that there are already US military on the territory, and no one after such exaggerated verbal aggression has even thought of threatening the US with a dismantling of all US bases on European territory. 

    As a European citizen, I am disgusted by all this. A (supposed) ally cannot be allowed to threaten European sovereignty. 

    I would challenge anyone here to host someone in the house, and when the guest threatens to become the owner do nothing. All this is unacceptable! 

  21. Has anyone considered how much of this is likely just posturing on behalf of Trump to gain more soft power in Greenland? He’s going to throw out something ludicrous like invading or purchasing Greenland, the EU obviously rejects the proposal, then the US will go to the negotiating table and walk out with more military bases & infrastructure to better position themselves in the Arctic. From an optics stand point, it will look like the EU was able to stand up to Trump, but the US still gets what it wants in terms of influence in the region.