Something remarkable just happened in Copenhagen, and most Americans probably missed it. Danish military veterans, the same people who fought alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan, took to the streets in protest. Not against their own government. Against the United States.
Let that sink in for a second. Denmark. One of America’s most reliable NATO allies. A country that lost more soldiers per capita than the U.S. did in Afghanistan. Now their veterans are marching in anger because President Trump claimed they “stayed a little back” during combat operations while simultaneously threatening to seize Greenland.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen knows this pain personally. The former Danish Prime Minister and NATO Secretary General grew up admiring America as the natural leader of the free world. In a recent NPR interview, he revealed a statistic that should alarm anyone paying attention to global affairs: 60% of Danes now consider the United States an adversary.
Six. Zero. Percent.
The Death of Traditional Diplomacy
When Mary Louise Kelly pressed him to confirm that shocking number, you could almost hear the disbelief in her voice. This isn’t Russia we’re talking about. This isn’t Iran or North Korea. This is Denmark, a country so fundamentally aligned with American values that the shift seems almost impossible.
Rasmussen’s assessment is even more damning. He’s watched European leaders try every strategy in the book to work with Trump, including flattery. None of it worked. The only thing that finally got results? Unity and a firm stance. When Trump threatened tariffs against European countries that didn’t support his Greenland ambitions, Europe stood together and pushed back. And suddenly, there was a “framework deal” that nobody actually understands.
That’s the new diplomatic playbook apparently. Make vague deals, claim victory, and move on while working groups figure out what actually happened.
The Coalition of the Waiting
The Greenland situation exposes something deeper than just one controversial land grab. Rasmussen actually agrees that NATO needs more military presence in Greenland. He supports more mining investment. He wants to keep Chinese and Russian interests out. These are legitimate security concerns that could have been addressed through normal diplomatic channels.
Instead, we got threats and public humiliation. And now Europe is asking itself a question it hasn’t seriously considered since 1945: what does security look like without America?
Rasmussen has an answer. He calls it the D7, a coalition of democracies built around the EU, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea. It’s his alternative to an America that seems to want to retire from its role as “global policeman.” The concept reflects a broader shift in international relations that’s been accelerating since Trump’s return to office.
But here’s where it gets really interesting. NATO’s current chief, Mark Rutte, says Europe is “dreaming” if it thinks it can defend itself without the U.S., particularly when it comes to nuclear deterrence. Rasmussen doesn’t disagree entirely. He still sees NATO as the cornerstone of European security. But he’s pushing hard for what he calls a “European pillar” within NATO, a coalition of the willing that can actually act instead of just waiting around.
From Cheap Energy to Harsh Reality
Rasmussen’s diagnosis of Europe’s strategic problem is brutally honest. For decades, the continent relied on cheap energy from Russia, cheap goods from China, and cheap security from the United States. That entire model has collapsed. Russia invaded Ukraine. China became a rival. And now America under Trump seems more interested in territorial expansion than alliance maintenance.
The Munich Security Conference happening this week will be a crucial test. Secretary of State Rubio is leading the American delegation, and Rasmussen hopes to hear “reconciliatory remarks.” But he’s also watching for concrete European action, particularly on deploying troops to Ukraine to guarantee security against future Russian attacks.
So far, as Rasmussen puts it with barely concealed frustration, the coalition of the willing has been more like a coalition of the waiting.
The transformation of Danish public opinion from 70 years of Atlantic partnership to 60% viewing America as an adversary didn’t happen in a vacuum. It happened because words matter, alliances matter, and you can’t insult the sacrifice of allied soldiers while simultaneously demanding their country’s territory and expect the relationship to survive intact.
