In a revelation that has strained the fabric of transatlantic trust, Denmark has summoned the United States ambassador to answer for covert surveillance operations reportedly conducted on its territory and in Greenland. The allegations, centered on a classified intelligence directive launched under President Donald Trump and overseen by then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, point to an aggressive campaign to identify pro-independence Greenlandic figures and assess political vulnerabilities in Copenhagen, according to the Wall Street Journal. The directive, as reported, instructed agencies to focus on “figures who support Greenland’s independence and who might be open to closer relations with Washington.”
The Financial Times further revealed the directive aimed to help determine “how the US might best exert influence” in Greenland. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said bluntly, “The idea that allies would carry out such activities on Danish territory is unacceptable.”
The backlash was swift. Rasmussen summoned the US envoy to Copenhagen, while Pipaluk Lynge, a senior member of Greenland’s parliament, urged a review of NATO ties. “We should consider whether being part of the NATO alliance still serves our interests,” she told local media. Lynge also called for the closure of the US consulate in Nuuk, highlighting growing fears of foreign manipulation.
The confrontation revives a long-simmering unease. In 2019, then-President Donald Trump suggested purchasing Greenland, prompting a sharp rebuke from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen who called the proposal “absurd” and clarified, “Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland,” according to Reuters.
At the heart of Washington’s Arctic obsession lies Greenland’s strategic value. Melting ice has revealed shipping lanes and unlocked untapped mineral wealth. The Council on Foreign Relations describes the Arctic as “a rising nexus of economic opportunity and security risk,” and “a zone of increased military presence, economic competition, and great power rivalry.”
The European Union echoed concerns. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called for respect for sovereignty: “Greenland and Denmark must be allowed to chart their own course,” she said, according to The Times. The paper also quoted an unnamed EU diplomat who said the incident displayed “a lack of respect for Arctic sovereignty.”
Danish intelligence agencies are now examining recent communications with American officials. Civil liberties organizations across Scandinavia are calling for stricter laws against foreign surveillance. Legal scholars argue that such actions represent a violation of international norms governing peacetime intelligence activity among allied nations.
Critics of the Trump administration argue this incident follows a pattern. As The Atlantic framed it, the 2019 Greenland proposal was “a clear expression of American imperial ambition masquerading as realpolitik.” Surveillance, they argue, is the digital age’s tool for the same goal.
The US government has yet to comment. But the silence is itself an answer. As the Arctic becomes a stage for geopolitical rivalry, this episode may serve as a warning—power politics no longer respect even the bonds of alliance.
Greenland, once considered an icy periphery, has now become the storm’s eye—where ambitions, climate shifts, and broken trust converge.
