For more than a year, US President Donald Trump has openly threatened to “take” the world’s largest island, Greenland, which is currently a semi-autonomous entity within the Kingdom of Denmark. The threats seem to intensify by the hour, and the situation may well have worsened by the time you read this.
I am a member of the Danish parliament, the Folketing, and the foreign affairs spokesperson for Enhedslisten, the left-wing Red-Green Alliance within it. Our concern as a party is in no way over the future of continued “Danish rule” in Greenland. The 57,000 Greenlanders have an obvious right to self-determination, and we support their right to shape their own future and decide their alliances.
As the former colonial power, Denmark carries a heavy burden of historical guilt and responsibility to assist the Greenlanders in developing their own democracy, sustainable economy and vision for statehood.
Denmark must stand with Greenland against external aggression and domination. It is the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark that is being threatened, and the right to self-determination of the people of Greenland that is being undermined. Trump is not on a path to liberate the Palestinians, the Venezuelans or the Greenlanders. He is on a path of self-interest and control.
Trump’s intervention in Venezuela highlighted his complete disrespect for international law and state sovereignty. Silence on such blatant violations is bound to pave the way for the next illegal quest driven by his or other autocratic leaders’ appetite to conquer other countries.
The bullies of this world do not respect bootlicking and appeasement. And Trump is a bully. His actions should be met with a clear “no” from any political leader who is committed to maintaining a rules-based global order.
What the world witnessed in Caracas does not bode well for other states that lie in any superpower’s self-declared sphere of interest. Trump, obviously, views both Venezuela and Greenland as part of his “backyard”, which he is going to dominate, rule, and “run” — because he can.
The US has no legitimacy or right to take over other countries. The fact that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime presided over a severe economic crisis and was responsible for widespread poverty, oppression, and electoral fraud does not in any shape or form legitimise Trump’s actions. Those who applaud and welcome the kidnapping of Maduro contribute to further undermining the international rules-based order and invite Trump and other cynical strongmen to do the same — including in Greenland.
The rules-based global order that we used to know was based on containing power with legal means, ensuring the sovereignty of states, and protecting people from state abuse and oppression. If these established rules for international peaceful coexistence are not defended and respected, they become irrelevant — with incalculable consequences for peace and stability. Yet we know that Western countries have enforced them rather selectively. Israel’s colonisation and genocide in Palestine is a stark example.
Washington’s new National Security Strategy clearly states that the United States has the right to assert its overwhelming political, economic, and military power in the world in general and the Western Hemisphere in particular. At his Mar-a-Lago press conference on January 3, Trump proudly referred to the “Donroe Doctrine” and outlined an approach to foreign policy aimed at protecting US dominance from any conceivable challenge. We, and the Greenlanders, have reason to fear the consequences.
Only dominant and autocratic powers with imperial ambitions, who eye other countries and their resources greedily, will benefit from the kind of world order that is now evolving in front of our eyes. Those powers want more land to show how big and powerful they are. They take other countries and their natural resources by force because they can — and because we let them.
The result is lawlessness – a world ruled by the law of the jungle where “might is right” and where all peoples in small and medium-sized countries face increasing insecurity.
The former Danish colony of Greenland is a democratic country today with a completely legitimate political leadership in the form of a government, Naalakkersuisut, and parliament, Inatsisartut.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen has repeatedly emphasised that he, his government, and the vast majority of Greenlanders have no desire to become US citizens or in any way part of the US.
As he said at a press conference in Copenhagen on January 13, “If we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark”.
This is understandable, given the fact that the US has no universal healthcare system and no higher education that is free of charge, as Greenland has. The Greenlanders have, no doubt, also taken note of the US’s dismal record when it comes to the rights and dignity of Indigenous peoples such as the Native Americans or the Inuits of Alaska.
All of this will not stop Trump from “getting” Greenland through a combination of military, political, and economic threats and brutal coercion.
The security situation in Europe and in Greenland is far past the point where it makes sense to walk on eggshells or try to flatter Trump. That is why the Kingdom of Denmark, the other Nordic countries, and any country in Europe and elsewhere that values the rules-based global order will have to reboot their approach and understand the need for strategic autonomy or independence from the US.
This involves a consistent policy of not procuring American arms, including fighter jets, which, unfortunately, Denmark purchased once again in 2025. It also means cutting ties when it comes to intelligence cooperation and developing internet platforms and media that can act independently of the US tech giants that are currently more or less under Trump’s control. We have to protect our democracies.
Our party calls on all progressive forces in Europe and around the world to unite and mobilise in a joint struggle for the right to self-determination and against the US’s and other major powers’ imperial and neocolonial ambitions of reshaping the world.
We need to put pressure on political leaders around the world to move away from appeasement and acquiescence towards the United States and to insist consistently on international law, the United Nations Charter, and the right to self-determination.
This is the struggle of our time.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
