One of the challenges with Donald Trump’s tendency to say outlandish, unbelievable things is that it can be hard to tell when it’s a distraction and when it’s serious. Unfortunately for Denmark, it seems that Trump’s obsession with taking over Greenland seems to be the latter. According to a report from the Financial Timesa call between Trump and the prime minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen went sideways, and now the Danes are afraid.

The story says that Trump and Frederiksen spoke on the phone last week for about 45 minutes in what was expected to be a little emotional between the two parties, because of Trump’s public declaration that he wants to take the Greenland from the hands of Denmark. Apparently there weren’t many pleasantries exchanged before Trump got angry.

Meanwhile, Frederiksen has reportedly expressed a willingness to cooperate with America, possibly allowing the U.S. set up shop for military bases and digging up the wealth of the island in mineral reserves, which is not enough for the Trumpet. He wanted to buy Greenland and reportedly did not want to move the position. “He is very strong. It’s a cold shower,” a European official told the Financial Times. “In the past, it was difficult to take it seriously. But I think it’s serious, and probably very dangerous.

So that’s not good. Officials described the Danish government as being in “crisis mode” after the call and said they were “scared of it.” Denmark, which is a member of NATO along with the US, is now staring down the barrel of potential tariffs that seek to damage the country’s economy until they are willing to let go of Greenland.

They are right to be concerned. According to US Department of StateAmerica is Denmark’s largest export market, and business between the two accounts for nearly 80,000 jobs for Danes. So there’s a fair chance for Trump to continue to squeeze, and he’s reportedly sending some of the most irritating people possible to negotiate with. Ken Howery, a former member of the PayPal mafia along with Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, has been reported America’s point manpending Senate approval. And there’s another Thiel ghoul, Dryden Brown, who seems ready to jump at the chance turn Greenland into a techno-utopiawhether they like it or not.

For what it’s worth, they don’t want it. Greenland is not exactly happy to be considered a political football. While the island is home to only 57,000 people, it has its own autonomous government, and its leader, Múte B. Egede, said they not interested in becoming American property. So far, that hasn’t really factored into the whole conversation. Instead, Trump and company are looking at real people and are totally thinking about exploiting the earth.