Danish PM says her country is 'ready to defend' Greenland as Trump's demands upend NATO summit

The PM is attending a one-day NATO summit with key topics including the Ukraine war, defense spending, relationships with the U.S. Graham Richardson reports.

ANKARA, Turkiye — Denmark on Wednesday vowed to defend its territory after U.S. President Donald Trump insisted again that the United States should control Greenland, upending a NATO summit in Turkiye meant to be a show of strength and unity.

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said her country is “ready to defend every inch of NATO including our own territory” in the event of an attack, and would rely on NATO allies to honour their commitment to defend each other.

“We hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenland people’s right for self-determination,” Frederiksen said ahead of the meeting of NATO leaders. “Greenland is of course not for sale.”

Trump had reopened old wounds on the eve of the meeting by insisting that the United States should control Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory.

Arriving at the summit on Wednesday, Trump said he was “not happy with NATO” for its member nations’ pushback against his earlier efforts to take over Greenland, adding that the territory “is very important for the United States, but it’s not important for Denmark.”

Trump’s renewed interest in Greenland could put at risk the entire future of NATO, which was founded in 1949 to counter the threat to European security posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

The organization is normally focused on outside threats such as that posed by Russia. It is not designed to deal with threats from within.

Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir said Greenland “belongs to the people of Greenland,” and called for unity in the face of Russia, which she called “the biggest threat.”

NATO chief backs latest U.S. strikes on Iran

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said from Ankara on Wednesday that he believes the United States is fully committed to the alliance. He praised Trump for the series of U.S. strikes on Iran overnight, after Tehran struck three merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

“I think what you did last night was absolutely necessary,” Rutte said to Trump. “It was a very strong response, and I’m with you on this.”

The U.S. strikes, as well as the revoking of a license allowing Iran to sell its oil on global markets, underscored the fragility of an interim deal to end months of fighting.

Trump said Wednesday the interim agreement with Iran is “over” after the strikes, but that he will allow talks to continue.

“For me, I think it’s over,” Trump responded when asked about the status of the ceasefire. “It’s just a waste of time dealing with them.”

NATO leaders sought to show Trump they were boosting defence

The meeting in Ankara was meant to focus on progress made toward meeting the alliance’s spending targets — something Rutte highlighted by noting numerous countries that are already investing more.

“The commitment is there, no doubt,” Rutte said before chairing the summit, but noted the Trump administration expects “the Europeans and Canadian will equalize their spending with the United States.”

In an attempt last month to mollify the U.S. leader, Rutte went to Washington to hail the “Trump Trillion” — the US$1.2 trillion that European allies and Canada have added to defence spending since Trump came to power in 2017.

Yet Trump has demanded “loyalty” and branded NATO a “paper tiger” after some allies refused to grant open access to their bases for U.S. forces to attack Iran.

Trump on Wednesday blasted NATO member Spain for its refusals to allow U.S. forces to use its bases to attack Iran, saying it was a “terrible partner in NATO” and renewing his threats to cut off trade with Spain.

As leaders converged on Ankara, Rutte hosted a “big reveal” event to showcase the many deals planned for the increased spending — much of it to be spent on U.S. companies, creating thousands of jobs for Americans.

NATO diplomats and officials had hoped that Trump would take the win, but judging by some of his remarks since arriving in Turkiye, they are in for yet another dressing down.

NATO braces for Trump’s grievances

Trump has long argued that the U.S. carries more than its fair share of the defence burden for NATO. At last year’s summit, the allies agreed to invest 5 per cent of their gross domestic product on defence — 3.5 per cent on their defence budgets and 1.5 per cent on infrastructure so troops and equipment can move faster in times of conflict.

Yet new figures released by NATO on Tuesday showed that Slovenia, Belgium, Spain and the Czech Republic could be in hot water with the Trump administration as they struggle to meet the alliance’s old spending target of 2 per cent of GDP.

The Trump administration wants to see a more lean and lethal “NATO 3.0,” with Europe taking responsibility for its own security, including Ukraine, with conventional weapons while America would continue to provide its nuclear umbrella.

However, the Pentagon has launched a six-month review of U.S. military presence in Europe, leaving allies to seek clarity on just how deeply Trump intends to cut U.S. force numbers.

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy pushes for NATO entry

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a fresh appeal Tuesday for Ukraine to be allowed to join the alliance, saying Ukrainian armed forces are highly experienced and would only boost NATO’s defence capabilities.

Zelenskyy, who is expected to meet with Trump in Ankara on Wednesday, highlighted Ukraine’s adaptability and its ability to strike deep inside Russia, hit Moscow’s oil refineries and other energy targets. He said Ukraine’s armed forces are “eliminating” on average 30,000 Russian troops every month.

Concern has been mounting among some northern, central and eastern European countries that Russia might be preparing a hybrid attack — a combination of conventional warfare with tactics like cyberattacks — on the continent as President Vladimir Putin struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.

U.S. Sen Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), one member of a congressional delegation attending the NATO summit, said at a news conference Wednesday that she hoped there would be a “recommitment” to Ukraine, and that the momentum on the battlefield favored Kyiv.

“We need to do everything possible to ramp up pressure on Russia to come to the table,” she said.

Trump will also meet with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former insurgent who led the offensive that unseated autocrat Bashar Assad in December 2024. Despite having once been an al-Qaida fighter, al-Sharaa has won Trump’s backing as he seeks to rebuild Syria and restore its long-shattered ties with the West.

Trump has repeatedly suggested that al-Sharaa would do a better job of rooting out Hezbollah in Lebanon than the Israeli army, raising alarms in Lebanon and Israel alike. The Syrian leader has said he has no interest in doing so.

Lorne Cook and Seung Min Kim, The Associated Press