President Trump’s new feud with Denmark is a surprise even to U.S. foreign policy leaders accustomed to his clashes with European allies.
“To be frank, I haven’t ever really been prepared for the day in which Denmark was something we would have to be worried about,” Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told the Washington Examiner. “By and large, it’s been a stable partner and ally for a long time. So, this is just a new dynamic.”
The dispute broke out suddenly on Tuesday, when Trump canceled a state visit to Copenhagen after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed his reported interest in purchasing Greenland, a strategically vital territory for the United States. The controversy continued into Wednesday as the president took issue with Frederiksen’s tone.
Rubio nonetheless predicted the key NATO ally could be trusted to continue blocking China’s efforts to establish beachheads in the Arctic.
“The notion that you’re going to have any European countries sort of wholesale aligning with China — there’s just too many geopolitical and cultural impediments to that,” Rubio said, noting European commitments to democracy and human rights. “I don’t think, at any time now or in the foreseeable future, Denmark is a threat or a problem for the United States.”
Denmark has aligned with the United States in opposition to major infrastructure plans sought by China and Russia, which are top U.S. rivals that use economic investments to gain a geopolitical edge over Western powers. The NATO ally refused to allow Russia to build a natural gas pipeline through Danish waters, siding with Washington even though Germany and other European countries favor the project.
Denmark also intervened when Chinese companies made a series of efforts to invest in naval bases and airports in Greenland, in part because of U.S. worry that Beijing wants to establish “bridgeheads” for the Chinese military in the Arctic. But Frederiksen drew Trump’s ire by saying that it was “absurd” to think that Denmark would sell Greenland, a former Danish colony that was granted autonomy in 1979.
“All she had to do was say, ‘No, we wouldn’t be interested,’” Trump said Wednesday. “Don’t say what an ‘absurd’ idea that is. She is not talking to me. She is talking to the United States of America. You don’t talk to the United States that way.”
Rubio allowed that Danish officials may have overreacted to word of Trump’s interest in Greenland, which was first reported last week.
“It sounds like there was an internal leak about some conversations that manifested itself in some way and then the Danes responded to it,” he said. “I think there are unnecessary distractions, and they certainly make for great media fodder and buzz, but I think most of these countries understand the broader importance of the relationship.”
Trump’s invitation to meet with Danish Queen Margrethe II next month still stands, according to Frederiksen, but the fence-mending may fall to others in the two governments for now.
“I think perhaps the best thing we can do is privately have some folks reach out and make sure that the relationship stays strong at that level and let it blow over at some point and avoid creating these flare-ups in the future, with them or anyone like them,” Rubio said.
