Trump's fixation with Greenland has ended Denmark's love affair with the U.S.

Trump's claim on Greenland, which makes up 98% of Denmark's territory, has become central to U.S.-Danish ties

- Yaroslav Trofimov

In his long career as a senior Danish politician, including as minister of defense during President Trump's first administration, Claus Hjort Frederiksen said he always valued the Scandinavian nation's tight bond with the U.S. And, like many from Denmark, until recently politically one of the more pro-American countries in Europe, he said he is heartbroken today by how the U.S. has turned from best friend to many other places, that suddenly we are nothing.

As for his own two sons, Frederiksen added, "They are very very angry with the U.S."

So are most Danes. According to a YouGov poll conducted in February, only 20% of Danish people hold a favorable opinion of the U.S., down from 48% in August last year. In a more recent poll, for the Berlingske newspaper, 41% of Danes described the U.S. as a threat to their nation.

"It's a very big change in a very short time. We have always talked about the U.S. as our closest ally," said Rasmus Jarlov, a Danish lawmaker from the conservative opposition and a former minister of business affairs. That change has seeped into the attitudes of ordinary Danes. "It's no longer well-regarded to go on vacation to the United States, it's now something to be frowned upon," he said, adding that his own household has stopped buying Heinz ketchup.

The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, was shocked when Trump laid out his demand for Greenland in their initial conversation after the president's election to a second term, diplomats said.

Trump later upped the ante by saying he wouldn't exclude using military force to seize the island. Vice President JD Vance, on a March visit to an American military base in northern Greenland, said "Denmark hasn't done a good job at keeping Greenland safe" and that the island would be safer under an American umbrella.