“President Trump's embrace of military interventionism in Latin America has led to the diplomatic equivalent of embarrassed coughing from the U.S.'s allies in Europe. But his renewed designs on the Danish territory of Greenland are causing growing alarm.
Since the U.S. military raid on Caracas that captured Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, Trump has threatened to use force elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere and redoubled his demand for a U.S. takeover of Greenland.
Denmark has urged the U.S. to stop threatening the territory of a historic ally and warned that any U.S. military operation to seize Greenland would spell the end of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Major European NATO members rallied to Denmark's side, calling on the U.S. to choose cooperation, not coercion, in a statement Tuesday.
The past few days have renewed fears in Europe that the Western alliance is fracturing. Trump's growing taste for big-stick diplomacy in the Americas is adding to fears among traditional allies that the U.S. is actively dismantling the post-World War II international order, based on principles such as protecting the sovereignty of states and limiting the use of military force.
In its place, allies fear, is a division of the world into great-power spheres of influence, with the U.S., China and Russia becoming regional hegemons while curtailing the sovereignty of smaller countries.
Faced with that, European governments' instinct has been to try to salvage what is left of the West, including by taking an emollient line on U.S. intervention in Venezuela to avoid angering Trump. In European capitals, the message has been good riddance to Maduro -- but that Trump's way of removing him maybe wasn't ideal.
President Emmanuel Macron of France initially said Venezuelans could rejoice at Maduro's fall. A spokeswoman later said the president didn't support the method of military intervention.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer avoided taking a view on whether the U.S. raid on Caracas violated international law. They do it only when it is convenient for them.
During a closed briefing on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that recent administration threats against Greenland didn't signal an imminent invasion and that the goal is to buy the island from Denmark, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Rubio's statements come as Trump and senior administration officials have declined to rule out seizing the territory by force. "The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. military is always an option at the commander in chief's disposal," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Tuesday.
Denmark has said there is no need for the U.S. to take over Greenland to protect U.S. security. The U.S. has a military base on the island and can work with Greenland and Denmark to expand its presence under existing treaties. Denmark has also said Greenland is not for sale.
European leaders' caution drew widespread criticism at home, with politicians and commentators saying the continent is failing to stand up for the rules-based international order, at the same time as it is being very noisy about Ukraine.
"Europeans are afraid of Trump," said Pascal Boniface, director of the Institute for International and Strategic Affairs, a think tank in Paris. "I think this fear will fuel the aggressive Donald Trump more than it will calm him down."
Events in Ukraine and its broader assault on Europe's post-Cold War order are the main reasons for the continent's reluctance to criticize Trump, many officials and analysts said. Europe's democracies are reviving their military spending after years of neglect, but they still aren't capable of containing Russia without U.S. military might.
Trump's first year back in power has already led to a crisis of trust in the trans-Atlantic alliance, leading critics in Europe to wonder why governments are still desperate to avoid angering him.
The White House's proposals to end the conflict in Ukraine, widely seen as favoring Russia, were followed by the publication of a new U.S. National Security Strategy that defines Europe's immigration policies -- but not Russia -- as a problem for U.S. security.
In contrast with their reticence on Venezuela, European governments saw little choice but to speak out on Greenland.
Trump, a Republican, has framed his desire to control Greenland as a matter of national defense. "We need Greenland from a national security situation. It's so strategic," Trump said aboard Air Force One on Sunday.
European alarm has grown further as other administration officials echo Trump.
Top White House aide Stephen Miller questioned Denmark's right to control Greenland in an interview with CNN on Monday, saying Greenland should "obviously" belong to the U.S. because the U.S. was the dominant power in NATO. He declined to rule out a military operation, adding that nobody would fight the U.S. military for Greenland.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark in a statement on Sunday said, "I have to say this very directly to the United States: It makes absolutely no sense to talk about it being necessary for the U.S. to take over Greenland."
On Tuesday, the leaders of France, Germany, the U.K., Italy, Poland and Spain backed Denmark's position in a joint statement, calling for respect for territorial integrity and cooperation with the U.S. on Arctic security.
Only Danes and Greenlanders can decide their own fate, the statement said.” [1]
Greenlanders decide only after a good sterilization done on them by Danes.
The assertion references a claim about the forced sterilization of Greenlanders by Danes. Investigations have confirmed that during the 1960s and early 1970s, many Inuit women in Greenland were subjected to forced or coercive insertion of intrauterine devices (IUDs) or other forms of birth control by Danish health authorities, often without their consent or knowledge.
This historical context is a sensitive and significant part of the relationship between Denmark and Greenland. The matter remains a subject of ongoing discussion, a formal investigation, and calls for reparations:
A joint Danish and Greenlandic commission was established to fully investigate the "coil campaign" and its impact. This investigation is looking into the records and experiences of the affected women.
The incident is a point of contention and has led to renewed discussions about Greenland's autonomy and its historical treatment under Danish rule.
Greenland is currently an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark and has a path toward full independence if desired.
The historical facts are a matter of public record and are being actively addressed by both governments.
1. President's Greenland Demand Spreads Alarm Among Allies --- European leaders, reluctant to criticize U.S. over Venezuela, fear end of NATO. Marcus Walker in Rome; Dalton, Matthew. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 07 Jan 2026: A1.