Listen To This Story

Realizing that Saturday’s attack on Venezuela has whetted Donald Trump’s appetite for imperialism, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen sent a clear message to the US president: Keep your grubby hands off Greenland.

Buoyed by the strike on Venezuela, Trump and members of his administration indicated that several other countries and territories may be the next targets of the US, including Cuba and Colombia.

The president also revived his interest in Greenland, a territory of NATO ally Denmark.

“[We] do need Greenland, absolutely,” he told The Atlantic on Sunday. “We need it for defense.”

While it isn’t good that the US is now openly plotting to attack any number of countries in its hemisphere, the president’s talk of annexing Greenland is insane on a whole different level.

It is equally mind-boggling that there is nobody in his orbit who dares to tell Trump that this is a terrible idea. Then again, maybe they are all so drunk on power that they think it isn’t, which would explain this social media post from right-wing podcaster Katie Miller, a former White House aide and current wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.

SOON pic.twitter.com/XU6VmZxph3

— Katie Miller (@KatieMiller) January 3, 2026

That doesn’t change the fact that any act of aggression toward Greenland would have wide-ranging consequences, including an end of NATO.

While this is something Trump and the Millers might welcome, and that China and Russia would be positively giddy about, it would greatly weaken the US by severing the alliance that has served as the backbone of the free world since World War II.

It would also clearly establish the United States as one of the bad guys on the global stage and lastingly damage relations with the European Union, Great Britain, and Canada, all of which are obligated to come to Greenland’s aid in the event of an attack.

In other words, it would be beyond foolish, and the fact that we are even forced to write these words is crazy.

That being said, the leaders of other countries have to come to terms with Trump’s insanity and take his expansionist fantasies seriously, which is why Frederiksen didn’t mince words on Sunday when she told the US, supposedly an ally, to cut out the talk of taking over Greenland.

“I have to say this very directly to the US: It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the US to take over Greenland. The USA has no right to annex one of the three countries in the Kingdom of Denmark,” she said in a statement.

Frederiksen correctly points out that Trump’s supposed concern for Greenland’s security is misplaced. After all, if another country were to attack it, the US would have respond as though itself was attacked, so there is no need to establish more of a security presence there.

The very existence of NATO protects Greenland, and the only way to make it vulnerable would be to weaken the alliance.

Frederiksen also noted that the US has “wide access” to Greenland as a result of a defense agreement it reached with Denmark.

“I would therefore strongly urge the US to stop the threats against a historically close ally, and against another country and people who have very clearly said that they are not for sale,” Frederiksen added.

Will that unmistakable message do the trick?

We doubt it. But it is nice to see that more responsible leaders are starting to view him as a serious threat.