NATO Ally ‘Utterly Freaked Out’ After Donald Trump Call: Report
Jan 24, 2025
President Donald Trump had a “fiery” phone call with Denmark’s Prime Minister last week, putting the NATO ally into “crisis mode,” the Financial Times reported, citing officials briefed on the matter.
European officials told the FT the call did not go well and that Trump was aggressive and confrontational with his Danish counterpart.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment Friday afternoon via email. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s office said it “does not recognise the interpretation of the conversation given by anonymous sources” and pointed Newsweek to Frederiksen’s official press release detailing the phone call.
Why It Matters
Trump’s 45-minute call with Frederiksen took place five days before he was inaugurated and came as he ramped up calls for the U.S. to take control of Greenland, a long-time territory of the European nation.
He made the announcement alongside a number of other characteristically bold foreign policy demands, including that the U.S. “retake” the Panama Canal and rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Denmark is a critical NATO ally and sent troops to fight alongside the U.S. in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It also contributes more than the 2 percent defense spending target to NATO, a number Trump has long said needs to be higher.
What To Know
“It was horrendous,” one of the officials told the FT of the call.
Another said: “He was very firm. It was a cold shower. Before, it was hard to take it seriously. But I do think it is serious, and potentially very dangerous.”
The comments shed light on the fact that Denmark didn’t put much weight on Trump’s demand until the phone call, though Frederiksen had previously emphasized that Greenland was not for sale.
The officials briefed on the call said that the Danish leader had offered more cooperation on military bases and mineral exploitation, but Trump was adamant that he wanted the territory.
“The intent was very clear. They want it. The Danes are now in crisis mode,” one source told the FT. Another added: “The Danes are utterly freaked out by this.”
Greenland is home to just 57,000 people, but its natural resources and shipping routes have attracted the president’s attention. He threatened earlier in January to impose tariffs on Denmark if it refused to give up the territory and reportedly brought this up again last week.
Trump’s threats aren’t new; he floated the same idea in 2019. Then, as now, Frederiksen rebuffed the proposal, calling it “absurd.”
What People Are Saying
Trump said at a news conference on Monday: “Greenland is necessary not for us—it’s necessary for international security.”
Greenland’s prime minister, Múte B. Egede, said at a news conference on Tuesday: “The Greenlandic people must make it clear what they want to be. We do not want to be Danes. We do not want to be Americans.”
What’s Next
The conversation between the two countries will likely continue but in a more official capacity now that Trump is back in the White House. Frederiksen met with executives from large Danish companies last week to discuss how they could prepare for potential tariffs.
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