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After Donald Trump’s illegal attack on Venezuela, it has become obvious that Greenland could be the next country that the US president wants to seize and “run”.
Trine Pertou Mach is an MP and Foreign Affairs Spokesperson for Enhedslisten, the Danish Red-Green Alliance.
Pelle Dragsted is an MP and the political spokesperson for Enhedslisten.
As a left-wing party in Denmark, our concern is in no way over the future of continued “Danish rule” in Greenland. The Greenlandic people have a right to self-determination, and we support their right to shape their own future and leave the Kingdom of Denmark if and when they choose. As the former colonial power, Denmark carries a heavy burden of historical guilt and responsibility to assist the Greenlanders in developing their own democracy and vision for statehood. That also means that, in the current turmoil, Denmark must stand with Greenland against external aggression and domination.
Trump’s intervention in Venezuela highlights his total disrespect for international law and state sovereignty. European leaders’ reluctant reactions and the lack of a clear condemnation of Trump’s illegal military action against Caracas is extremely worrying — after all, the rules-based world order our countries swear by was designed to protect any nation state against a foreign takeover or the abduction of its political leaders.
Silence and appeasement paves the way for the next illegal quest driven by Trump’s or other autocratic leaders’ appetite to conquer other countries. The move is deeply disturbing and does not bode well for other states that lie in a superpower’s self-declared sphere of interest. At this point it is obvious that Trump sees both Venezuela and Greenland as part of his “backyard”, which he is going to dominate, rule, and “run” — because he can.
One can make the case that Venezuelans are better off without Nicolás Maduro. But that was not a problem for the US to fix by a military intervention. Moreover, Trump has not carried yet out a regime change, as he seems to expect to use former Maduro loyalists as his puppets in his theft of the natural resources of the Venezuelan people. The US has no legitimacy or right to take over other countries whatsoever. The fact that Nicolás Maduro’s regime presided a deep economic crisis and is responsible for widespread poverty, oppression, and centralization of power, not to mention electoral fraud, does not in any shape or form legitimize Trump’s action. Those who applaud and welcome the kidnapping contribute to the undermining of the international rules-based order and invite Trump and other cynical strongmen to do the same — including in Greenland.
A Bleak New World
The rules-based global order that we used to know was based on containing power with legal means, ensuring the sovereignty of states and protecting people from state abuse and oppression. If the established rules for international peaceful coexistence are not respected, they become irrelevant — with incalculable consequences for peace and stability.
Donald Trump’s new National Security Strategy was published in December of last year. It clearly describes how he sees Latin America as an integral part of the US sphere of interest, and how the United States asserts the right to assert its overwhelming political, economic, and military power in the world in general and the Western Hemisphere in particular. At his Mar-A-Lago press conference on 3 January, Trump proudly referred to the “Donroe Doctrine” and outlined an approach to foreign policy with the aim of protecting US dominance from any conceivable challenge. Now we know what that means.
It is paramount for European and Nordic countries to stand firm and consistently defend international law and condemn violations, regardless of which state is responsible.
Trump wants Greenland. China wants Taiwan. Putin wants Ukraine — and later Moldova and Georgia. Israel wants to completely annex all of Palestine. Only dominant and autocratic powers with imperial ambitions, who eye other countries and their resources greedily, will benefit from the kind of world order that is now evolving in front of our eyes. Those powers want more land to show how big and powerful they are. They initiate illegal regime changes in other countries and are indifferent to the rule of law. They take other countries and their natural resources by force because they can — and because we let them. The price is lawlessness and a world ruled by the law of the jungle, true to the motto of “might makes right”. All peoples in democratic small- and medium-sized countries live under increasingly insecure conditions as the rules-based world order breaks down.
Obviously, Greenland is a democratic country with a completely legitimate political leadership in the form of the Greenlandic government, Naalakkersuisut, and parliament, Inatsisartut. Those well-established democratic institutions and the orderly Greenlandic welfare system are a far cry from conditions in Venezuela. But that will not stop Trump from “getting” Greenland through a combination of military, political, and economic threats and brutal coercion. Trump displays a remarkable ignorance (or simple disregard of facts) when he talks about Greenland, one example is claiming that the majority of Greenlanders want to become US citizens. They don’t, especially seeing how their fellow Inuit are treated in Alaska — and not even if Trump offers to buy them off. The country’s political leadership has repeatedly stated that “Greenland is not for sale”. Furthermore, Trump’s description of Greenland’s current territorial defence as based on “a dog sled” is not remotely based on facts (and rather condescending to boot).
Time to Fight Back
The same international law that should have protected Venezuelan sovereignty (but didn’t) should, theoretically, protect Greenland, but is increasingly being put out of effect. It is paramount for European and Nordic countries to stand firm and consistently defend international law and condemn violations, regardless of which state is responsible.
The security situation in Europe and in Greenland is far past the point where it makes sense to walk on eggshells or even try to flatter Trump by referring to him as “Daddy”, as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte did in one of 2025’s most cringe political moments. Hesitating and tip-toeing around is no way to confront a bully. Trump had a ball at his hour-long press conference on 3 January and has visibly enjoyed every press interaction since. With each new illegal military gain, his appetite to “get” Greenland “one way or the other” grows.
At the start of 2026,the world is staring into a big black abyss. The question we must ask ourselves is how to avoid it and fight back against authoritarian and imperialistic powers. There is no easy or simple answer — but it is an illusion to believe that licking Trump’s boots will saves us or the Greenlanders.
Enhedslisten, Denmark’s Red-Green Alliance, calls on the Left in Europe and around the world to unite and mobilize in a joint struggle for the right to self-determination and against the US’s and other major powers’ imperial and neocolonial ambitions. We welcome the solidarity expressed from citizens in many corners of Europe with Greenland and its people. We need massive pressure on European political leaders to move away from appeasement and acquiescence towards the US and to insist consistently on international law, the UN Charter, and the right to self-determination — in Venezuela, Colombia, Greenland, Ukraine, Palestine, and everywhere.
