“That’s very rude.”
Garth Sloth Bertelsen, a Danish military veteran who grew up in Greenland, said that’s how he feels about recent U.S. actions. Mr. Bertelsen served with the U.S. military on peacekeeping missions to North Macedonia in 1996 and 1997. Now, he is one of several veterans who say they are surprised by the hostility from allies of their former comrades.
Bertelsen, who is half Greenlander and currently serves in non-combat duty in Denmark’s military, described how fear, anxiety and feelings of betrayal have permeated communities in both countries after the Trump administration repeatedly threatened to “buy” Greenland and drove it back this week.
On Wednesday, just hours after demanding “rights, title and ownership” for the autonomous Danish territory, US President Donald Trump reversed course and announced that he had “formed the framework for a future agreement” on Greenland after a meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte.
Europe’s allies welcomed news of the framework, but some warn that the damage to EU-US relations has already been done, even after the US withdrew its threat to impose additional tariffs over opposition to the US takeover.
Meanwhile, the mood in Nuuk and Copenhagen remains tense as Greenlanders and Danes grapple with the new reality of the US threat.
“When you experience this kind of hostile behavior, it’s kind of shocking,” Bertelsen said in an interview with CNN last week. “I don’t understand how that could happen if it’s coming from an ally.”
The Danish military has a long history of working alongside the United States, including in NATO missions, UN peacekeeping operations, and the US-led conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although military service is compulsory for both men and women in Denmark, the small number of Greenlandic soldiers who serve in the Danish Armed Forces are all volunteers.
The Kingdom of Denmark has suffered heavy casualties in Afghanistan, with troops deployed to Helmand province, one of the deadliest battlefields of the war. Denmark’s involvement began in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on the United States, and over the next few years it sent nearly 20,000 personnel through the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
At least 41 Danish soldiers died there. Considering that Denmark and its autonomous regions had a population of only 6 million people, the per capita death rate was very high compared to other countries that participated in the force. Further casualties occurred in the Iraq war, with the loss of eight soldiers, according to a study by the Danish Defense Medical Corps.
“Many of the veterans we work with have served alongside Americans, and there is absolutely no respect for their military service or their jobs,” Bertelsen added.
Along with fellow veteran Mads Rasmussen, he is co-chairman of Veteranprojekt Grønland, a Denmark-based organization that supports veterans through social connections and natural rehabilitation. This facilitates an annual trip to Greenland on Veterans Day, where we meet with Greenlandic service members and veterans.
“Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland. At the same time, we are shocked by the actions of the United States and the disrespect we see regarding international law in general,” the two chairs said earlier in a joint statement, also noting that they were not speaking on behalf of other veterans in the organization.
Another Greenlandic military officer, Salik Augustinussen, wrote an open letter to the American people earlier this month before Trump’s U-turn, stressing that Denmark and its autonomous region would not hesitate to support the United States after the September 11 attacks.
“I fought side by side with my brothers and sisters in arms from the United States, Europe, and NATO in Afghanistan after 9/11 in the United States,” Augustinussen wrote in a social media post. He likened the threat to Greenland to a “blue on blue” attack on a NATO member.
“If the president of the United States decides to allow the military to invade Greenland, you will be attacking me and my family,” the Greenlandic soldier said. “You are attacking your brothers and sisters who were standing together when you were attacked.”
The only time in NATO’s history that Article 5, which states that an attack on one member state is an attack on all members, was invoked was after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
President Trump on Wednesday walked away from the idea of using military force to seize Greenland, just before his administration collapsed and the deal was announced. But his other harsh words about the Arctic and NATO allies continue to resonate throughout the alliance.
In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, he baselessly added that NATO forces were “a little bit off the front lines” in the war in Afghanistan, angering some U.S. allies who have lost more than 1,000 soldiers in the conflict.
After President Trump insisted in a speech in Davos, Switzerland, that NATO countries would not protect the United States if it were attacked, adding: “We have nothing to gain from NATO,” European soldiers came under fire on social media to remind the US president of his extensive service in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
“This is the Norwegian soldier who did nothing for America in Afghanistan in 2007 and 2012,” one man wrote on Reddit, along with a photo of himself in a firing position. Like many other NATO allies, Norway’s civilian and military involvement in Afghanistan lasted from 2001 to 2021, according to the Ministry of Defense.
Posts from people claiming to have served in Afghanistan for Germany, the Netherlands and Britain followed suit.
Another man posted a photo of himself in military uniform with the caption: “This is me, a Canadian soldier doing nothing for America in Afghanistan in 2008.” Canada also deployed to Afghanistan for more than a decade, with more than 40,000 Canadians serving there and 158 losing their lives.
In comments to Danish outlet TV2, fellow Greenlandic veteran Kununguak Iversen said he felt “a little bit betrayed” by the Trump administration’s actions after being deployed to Iraq as part of the US-led coalition in 2006.
“The fact that we answered the phone when they called is a problem. The fact that they then treat us the way they are now is a problem,” Iversen told TV2 earlier this month.
Greenland deal still unclear
An emergency summit of EU leaders convened to discuss President Trump’s threats against Greenland was held on Thursday. Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister Eva Bush even told CNN on Wednesday that “we are not out of the woods yet.”
Meanwhile, the details of the framework agreement regarding Greenland remain unclear.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Rutte reached a verbal agreement on Wednesday, but no document indicating a future agreement has yet been drawn up, a person familiar with their discussions told CNN.
The two leaders agreed to further talks on renewing the 1951 agreement between the United States, Denmark and Greenland that provides for the presence of American troops on the island, sources said. The framework also ensures that Russia and China are prohibited from making any investments in Greenland, and provides for an increased role for NATO in Greenland.
A NATO official told CNN that one of the proposals discussed at a meeting of NATO officials on Wednesday, and that had also surfaced in previous talks between alliance members and Mr. Rutte, was the possibility that Denmark would allow the United States to build more military bases on Greenland and land it considers American sovereignty.
“While it is not clear whether this proposal will ultimately become part of the framework hinted at on Wednesday by US President Donald Trump, who backed away from tariff threats after speaking with Rutte, expanding the US military presence in Greenland is broadly speaking a passing point in the discussion,” the official said.
The United States already has one base in northwestern Greenland, Pitufik Cosmodrome, made possible by a defense agreement written in 1951, updated in 1981, and re-signed in 2004. During the Cold War, the United States had a much larger military presence in Greenland, but chose to close other bases as the clear threat receded.
CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, Kevin Liptak, Todd Simans, Issy Ronald and Madalena Araujo contributed to this article.
