{"id":8942,"date":"2026-01-05T18:14:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T18:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/01\/05\/trumps-venezuela-attack-greenland-threats-raise-fears-in-denmark-europe-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T18:14:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T18:14:00","slug":"trumps-venezuela-attack-greenland-threats-raise-fears-in-denmark-europe-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/01\/05\/trumps-venezuela-attack-greenland-threats-raise-fears-in-denmark-europe-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s Venezuela attack, Greenland threats raise fears in Denmark, Europe – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Copenhagen may be 5,200 miles away from Caracas, but the thrum of the helicopters that grabbed Venezuelan President <\/a>Nicol\u00e1s Maduro will have been deafening in the Danish capital.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s longtime threats to seize Denmark\u2019s territory of Greenland<\/a> have been widely derided in Europe, mocked even, as outlandish talk that could surely never translate into the United States effectively invading a NATO ally.<\/p>\n

But Trump’s willingness and ability to capture Maduro \u2014 and his suggestion that Greenland and its own vast natural resources<\/a> may be next \u2014 have raised worries that there may be more to this Arctic ambition.<\/p>\n

It has triggered the strongest protests yet against Washington\u2019s hostile overtures<\/a>, including from longtime U.S. allies in Europe.<\/p>\n

\"Greenland<\/picture>
Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.<\/span>Odd Andersen \/ AFP – Getty Images file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cNo more pressure. No more hints. No more fantasies about annexation,\u201d Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the president of the United States talks about \u2018we need Greenland\u2019 and connects us with Venezuela and military intervention, it\u2019s not just wrong. This is so disrespectful,\u201d he added. \u201cOur country is not an object of superpower rhetoric. We are a people. A land. And democracy. This has to be respected. Especially by close and loyal friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen added Sunday that Trump talking about taking over Greenland \u201cmakes absolutely no sense\u201d and that \u201cthe U.S. has no right to annex\u201d it.<\/p>\n

\"Chancellor<\/picture>
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she would “strongly urge the U.S. stop the threats against a historically close ally.”<\/span>Omer Messinger \/ Getty Images file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trump and his team have for months said they want to take over the vast semi-autonomous Danish territory<\/a>, citing its strategic importance and mineral wealth. After Maduro\u2019s capture, he doubled down on the idea, telling reporters aboard Air Force One late Sunday, \u201cWe need Greenland, from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it, I can tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He mocked local efforts to defend the sparsely populated island, saying \u201cthey added one more dog sled\u201d that would be no match for the \u201cRussian and Chinese ships\u201d he claimed were \u201call over the place\u201d around the territory. <\/p>\n

(That rationale is disputed by experts: Peter Viggo Jakobsen, an associate professor at the Royal Danish Defence College, told NBC News that these ships “do not exist.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Adding to the alarm, Katie Miller, a right-wing podcast host and the wife of Trump adviser Stephen Miller, posted an image of Greenland superimposed with the American flag and the caption “SOON!”<\/p>\n

Though Trump stunned the world by sending aircraft and personnel to grab Maduro in Caracas, intervention in Greenland would arguably carry greater risk of escalation.<\/p>\n

Denmark\u2019s NATO membership carries with it the implied protection of Article 5<\/a> \u2014 the promise that an attack on one ally will be treated as an attack on all. However, the U.S. is by far the biggest contributor to NATO, and has historically been seen as the ultimate guarantor behind its pledge of mutual self-defense.<\/p>\n

Germany indicated Monday that European allies would be prepared to step in.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince Denmark is a member of NATO, Greenland will, in principle, also be subject to NATO defense,\u201d Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told reporters in Lithuania. \u201cAnd if there are further requirements to strengthen defense efforts concerning Greenland, then we will have to discuss this within the framework of the alliance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Trump Force One arrives in Nuuk, Greenland, last January.<\/span>Emil Stach \/ Ritzau Scanpix \/ AFP – Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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European leaders are hesitant to criticize Trump \u2014 a man on whom they still rely for much of their military defense, not to mention his ever-looming threat of more tariffs. But many were quick Monday to stress that Greenland\u2019s future is \u201cnot for others to decide,\u201d as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. France expressed similar “solidarity with Denmark.”<\/p>\n

Others are harshly critical of their delicate approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must make it very clear to the Trump administration that threats to them is unacceptable,\u201d said Ben Wallace, former British defense secretary for the now-opposition Conservative Party. He criticized “weak government ministers” for “saying nothing.”<\/p>\n

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, meanwhile, cautioned that “no-one will take seriously a weak and divided Europe: neither enemy nor ally.”<\/p>\n

Trump has been threatening Greenland for around a year, and last month named Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry as special envoy to the territory. Denmark\u2019s military intelligence service has also for the first time classified the U.S. as a security risk.<\/p>\n

\"Vice<\/picture>
Vice President JD Vance tours the U.S. military’s Pituffik Space Base in Greenland in March 2025.<\/span>Jim Watson \/ POOL via AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yet, Trump’s capture of Maduro has seemingly focused minds in European governments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt made them realize that this is not completely impossible,\u201d Jakobsen said. \u201cI still think it\u2019s very unlikely,\u201d he added, calling the idea \u201cabsurd.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a \u201chuge difference between launching a special forces operation against a country like Venezuela \u2014 which is effectively a pariah and is beset with domestic problems \u2014 and then doing the same thing in a NATO country that is in an alliance with the U.S.,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

The U.S. can already request additional military bases on Greenland\u2019s frozen soil, and \u201cthere\u2019s nothing to prevent the U.S. from making minerals deals either,\u201d Jakobsen added.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo in that respect, Trump is creating a problem that does not exist,\u201d he said. \u201cDoes that mean that I\u2019m then going to rule it out completely? No, because I\u2019ve given up trying to understand what the Trump administration is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Alexander Smith is a senior reporter for\u00a0NBC News Digital based in London.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jan. 5, 2026, 11:00 AM EST Copenhagen may be 5,200 miles away from Caracas, but the thrum of the helicopters that grabbed Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro will have been deafening in the Danish capital. Trump\u2019s longtime threats to seize Denmark\u2019s territory of Greenland have been widely derided in Europe, mocked even, as outlandish talk that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}