U.S.-Denmark alliance questioned as Trump’s Greenland rhetoric threatens defense pact

Denmark’s Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) with the United States, which allows for the stationing of U.S. troops in Denmark, is facing mounting domestic criticism as Donald Trump continues to suggest that the U.S. should take over Greenland.

According to Denmark’s national broadcaster DR, political parties are now questioning whether strengthening military ties with Washington is a responsible decision at a time when Trump is openly discussing the possibility of seizing Danish territory.

Alternativet, which has long been critical of the DCA, now considers the agreement completely untenable given the hostile rhetoric coming from Washington.

“We are in a situation where the Americans have more or less withdrawn from being an ally of Denmark when they threaten an attack. I find it difficult to see how we can still consider them friends,” said Sascha Faxe, foreign affairs spokesperson for Alternativet.

She went even further, questioning why Denmark would allow U.S. troops to be stationed in the country under these circumstances.

Trine Pertou Mach, foreign affairs spokesperson for the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten), has called for the agreement to be scrapped entirely in light of Trump’s latest remarks.

“I believe the government should pull the plug on this deal and acknowledge that now is simply not the time to enter into a defense agreement with a United States that is behaving the way it is right now,” she said. “It is quite wild that we, in some way or another, are welcoming people who we might actually describe as a kind of enemy onto Danish soil to establish a military base in Jutland.”

The DCA, signed in December 2023, grants U.S. forces access to Danish military installations in Karup, Skrydstrup, and Aalborg. However, the deal will not be ratified unless it passes a vote in the Danish parliament Folketinget. The vote is set to take place in a few months. While the Social Democrat-led government has framed it as a key step in bolstering Denmark’s security, critics argue that Trump’s increasingly aggressive stance toward Denmark makes it dangerous to deepen military cooperation with the U.S.

Pelle Dragsted of Enhedslisten echoed these concerns, warning that Washington’s unpredictability and Trump’s repeated threats to NATO mean Denmark should think twice before allowing an American military presence on its soil.

“If the U.S. decides to turn away from NATO, Denmark will have to reconsider its entire defense strategy. We shouldn’t be making deals that depend on an unstable partner,” he said.

Despite the growing opposition, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen has defended the agreement, insisting that U.S. cooperation remains vital to Denmark’s security.

“The U.S. is still our most important ally, and this agreement strengthens our ability to protect Denmark and our region,” he said.

But as Trump’s rhetoric toward Greenland intensifies, opposition parties warn that Denmark could soon find itself hosting American troops while Washington simultaneously questions Danish sovereignty over its own territory.