January’s gloomy weather in Copenhagen matched the mood among Danish politicians and business leaders.

“We take this situation very, very seriously,” Foreign Minister Lars Lök Rasmussen said of Donald Trump’s threat to acquire Greenland if Denmark stands in the way. Imposition of high tariffs.

But he added that the government had “no ambition to escalate the war of words”.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen played down Trump’s own suggestion that the United States might use force to seize Greenland. “I can’t imagine it coming to this,” she told Danish television.

Danish Industry CEO Lars Sundar Sørensen also said, “There are good reasons to remain calm…No one is interested in a trade war.”

But behind the scenes, hastily organized high-level meetings have been taking place in Copenhagen all week, reflecting the shock caused by Trump’s comments.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Mutt Egged flew to Greenland on Wednesday to meet with the Prime Minister and King Frederick X.

Party leaders from across the political spectrum gathered in the Danish parliament on Thursday evening for a special meeting with Mette Frederiksen on the crisis.

Faced with what many Danes called Trump’s “provocations,” Frederiksen largely tried to strike a conciliatory tone, repeatedly calling the United States “Denmark’s closest partner.”

She added that it was “natural” for the United States to focus on the Arctic and Greenland.

But she also said any decisions about Greenland’s future should be made by the Greenlandic people themselves: “Greenland belongs to Greenlanders… Greenlanders themselves must define their own future.”

Her caution is twofold.

On the one hand, Frederiksen is keen to avoid escalation. In 2019, she was upset when Trump canceled a trip to Denmark because she said his proposal to buy Greenland was “ridiculous.”

“He was only in power for another year and then things went back to normal,” veteran political journalist Eric Holstein told the BBC. “But maybe this is the new normal.”

But Frederiksen’s comments also signal Denmark’s determination not to interfere in Greenland’s internal affairs. Greenland is a self-governing territory with its own parliament, and its people are increasingly leaning towards independence.

Opposition lawmaker Rasmus Jallof said: “She should be more explicit about rejecting the idea.”

He told the BBC: “This level of disrespect from the incoming president of the United States to very, very loyal allies and friends is record-setting.” However, he admitted that Trump’s toughness “surprised everyone.”

The conservative lawmaker believes Frederiksen’s insistence that “only Greenland…can determine and define Greenland’s future” puts too much pressure on the island’s residents. “Supporting Greenland and making it clear that Denmark does not want (a U.S. takeover) is prudent and sensible.”

Greenland is a delicate issue for Denmark, whose prime minister only recently formally apologized for spearheading a social experiment in the 1950s that saw Inuit children removed from their families and re-educated. Become a “model Dane”.

Last week, Greenland’s leader said the territory should break free from the “shackles of colonialism”.

In doing so, he tapped into growing nationalist sentiment among Greenland’s younger generation who are interested in the indigenous Inuit culture and history.

Most commentators now expect the independence referendum to be successful in the near future. While this will be seen as a victory for many, it could also create a new set of problems, as Greenland relies on Denmark for 60% of its economy.

Carsten Hunge said an independent Greenland “needs to make a choice”. The Social Democrats MP now fears his preferred new Commonwealth-style deal “based on equality and democracy” is unlikely to materialize.

Sitting in a parliamentary office decorated with poems and drawings depicting scenes from Inuit life, Honge said Greenland needed to decide “how much it values ​​independence.” Honge said it could sever ties with Denmark and turn to the United States, “but that doesn’t make sense if you value independence.”

Opposition MP Jarlof believes that although it makes no sense to force Greenland to become part of Denmark, “it is very close to becoming an independent country.”

Its capital, Nuuk, is autonomous but relies on Copenhagen to manage its currency, foreign relations and defence, as well as heavy subsidies.

“Greenland today is more independent from the EU than Denmark,” Jallof added. “So I hope they think twice.”

The strongest rebuttal to Trump’s comments so far has come from outside Denmark, as Mette Frederiksen faces the awkward task of responding firmly without offending Greenland or the United States.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that the principle of inviolable borders “applies to every country…whether it is a very small country or a very powerful one”, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrow said Said that the EU will not let other countries “attack its sovereign borders.”

Their comments exposed deep concerns within the EU about how to deal with the looming Trump presidency. “This is very serious not only for Greenland and Denmark, but also for the whole world and all of Europe,” said MP Karsten Honge.

“Imagine a world where international agreements do not exist – we may be facing this world in a few weeks. This will shake everything up, and Denmark is only a small part of it.”

Denmark’s trade sector is also in deep tension after Trump said he would “impose very high tariffs on Denmark” if it refused to hand over Greenland to the United States.

A 2024 study by Danish Industry showed that if the United States imposed a 10% tariff on imports from the EU to the United States amid a global trade war, Denmark’s GDP would fall by three percentage points.

It would be nearly impossible for the United States to single out Danish products from the influx of EU goods and would almost certainly lead to retaliatory measures from the EU. But trade industry professionals rarely take risks, and in Denmark and elsewhere on the continent, significant resources are being invested internally to plan for the potential outcome of a second term for Donald Trump in the White House.

As his inauguration approaches, Danes are doing their best to prepare for the storm. There are cautious hopes that the president-elect will soon turn his attention to grievances with other EU partners and that the Greenland issue can be put aside for now.

But Trump’s refusal to rule out military intervention to seize Greenland remains a possibility.

Carsten Hunge said Denmark would suffer no matter what the United States decided.

“All they have to do is send a small warship down the coast of Greenland and send a polite letter to Denmark,” he said, only half-joking.

“The last words were: OK, Denmark, what would you do?

“This is the new reality for Trump.”