General Discussion

This is a smart, and sadly necessary response. On the one hand, Nato allies can show that they take Trump’s purported security concerns seriously and demonstrate that if his pursuit of Greenland is genuinely motivated by fears over Russian and Chinese encroachment, the best solution it to work within their existing alliance. At the same time, deploying European and Canadian troops to Greenland complicates the calculus for a president who does not like to do hard things and would then have to weigh the prospect of a military confrontation with America’s oldest and closest allies.

Pressed as to whether Danish soldiers would fight back against an American military assault, Denmark’s defence minister on 14 January refused to be drawn on hypothetical scenarios. But he confirmed that a standing order from 1952 remains in effect for all Danish troops: “If you are attacked, you must defend the Kingdom.”