The Trump administration’s threat to annex Greenland, an autonomous part of Denmark, has plunged NATO into an unprecedented situation: An alliance based on collective defense – where an attack on one is an attack on all – now faces the prospect that one member might attack another. Proclaiming the return to a world in which the strong take what they can and the weak suffer what they must, Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, told CNN: “We’re a superpower, and … we’re going to conduct ourselves as a superpower. Miller this week heaped scorn on “international niceties,” telling CNN: “We live … in the real world … that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world that have existed since the beginning of time.”
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has sounded the alarm: “If the US chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops, including NATO and thus the security that has been established since the end of the Second World War.” But other European leaders have held their tongues, at least in public, for an uncomfortable reason: The US may no longer be a reliable ally of Europe, but for now it remains a necessary one. With Europe needing US military and diplomatic support to rebuff Russia, Trump’s renewed threats against Greenland have put it in a bind: how to keep the US out of Greenland, but invested in Ukraine?
The Europeans are not willing to criticize the US for its threats against Denmark, lest they jeopardize Washington’s involvement in the Ukraine peace process. Many European leaders want to talk tough to America … They want to be able to stand up and call out what they’re seeing, but they’re simply not in a position to do so, because for a very long time, they’ve outsourced their security to America. As with last year, the Europeans’ priority for 2026 remains to keep the US engaged in Ukraine, even if this leads to putting pressure on Copenhagen “to come to an accommodation” with the US over Greenland. “Fundamentally, the Europeans do not have a choice, because the process to rearm in Europe is three to five years. Europe has been funding Ukraine’s defense for more than a year, and while it builds up its own defense industrial base, it remains heavily dependent on the US for the weapons it buys for Ukraine.
Although Europe hopes that Trump’s interest in Greenland may subside, as happened last year, officials in London and Brussels fear this time may be different. The Americans know the Europeans are weak. Predators prey on the weak – that’s what the Trump administration is doing. There’s not much the Europeans can do. “For many countries, it’s about buying time. This is a bridge. Until Europe can defend itself, they’ve got to work with the Trump administration.”
