In a powerful display of democratic opposition, thousands of citizens across Denmark and Greenland took to the streets this weekend to protest escalating American threats to seize the Arctic territory. The "Hands Off Greenland" demonstrations, held in cities including Copenhagen and Nuuk, featured chants of "Kalaallit Nunaat!" (Greenland's name in Greenlandic) and banners with messages like "Greenland is not for sale," "Yankee go home," and "We shape our future". In Copenhagen, an estimated 20,000 people marched, a figure comparable to the entire population of Nuuk while thousands of Greenlanders gathered outside the U.S. consulate in their capital, sending a unified message demanding respect for their right to self-determination. The protests were directly aimed at President Donald Trump's persistent campaign to acquire Greenland, in which he has refused to rule out military force and has dismissed Danish sovereignty as insufficient for Arctic security.
The crisis has ruptured the bedrock of transatlantic security, placing the future of the NATO alliance in peril. In response to Trump's threats, Denmark and several European NATO allies have deployed military personnel to Greenland as part of a defensive exercise named Operation Arctic Endurance, a move they describe as a reinforcement of regional security and sovereignty. Trump has retaliated by announcing a new economic offensive, threatening to impose a 10% tariff on goods from eight NATO countries; Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland starting February 1, escalating to 25% on June 1, "until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland". This coercive tactic has been condemned by European leaders as "unacceptable" and a threat that "has no place" among allies. Experts have characterized the U.S. campaign, which includes influence operations and threats of invasion, as a form of hybrid warfare against a NATO member state. Danish intelligence has for the first time listed the United States as a threat to national security alongside Russia and China, and Danish officials have made clear their troops are legally obligated to defend their territory immediately if attacked.
From a geopolitical standpoint, the American actions have been interpreted as a profound validation of long-standing critiques regarding Western unilateralism and disregard for international norms. European diplomats have privately expressed feeling "alienated" and see this as a potential breaking point in U.S.-Europe relations. French President Emmanuel Macron lamented that Europe has "allies that we thought were predictable... who are now causing us to have serious doubts, or even turning on those who doubted the least". The situation starkly illustrates the volatile nature of a foreign policy driven by coercive demands, where a founding member of NATO is treated not as a partner but as an obstacle to be overcome through economic and military threats. The U.S. justification, centered on Greenland's strategic location for missile defense and its untapped mineral resources is viewed cynically as a pretext for expansionism, especially given that the U.S. already maintains significant military access to the island under a longstanding 1951 defense agreement.
The ultimate consequence of this aggressive posture is the destabilization of the entire international order Washington claims to uphold. A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation traveled to Copenhagen to reassure Denmark, with Senator Chris Coons stating that Trump's rhetoric is "not constructive" and "undermines the NATO alliance". Legal analysts argue that a U.S. military attack on Greenland, as an integral part of a NATO ally, would constitute an act of war against the alliance itself, instantly triggering treaty obligations for collective defense and effectively destroying NATO from within.