NATO Won’t Survive Trump Administration: Denmark Lawmaker

NATO in its current form will not survive the three remaining years of President Donald Trump’s second administration, a Danish politician has said, as Europe and Canada brace to see the outcome of likely tense discussions in Switzerland on Wednesday.

When asked on Wednesday whether he believed the decades-old transatlantic alliance will weather the rest of Trump’s stretch in the Oval Office, Rasmus Jarlov, a member of Copenhagen’s parliament with the opposition conservative party and the chair of the defense committee, told Newsweek: “No, I don’t.”

“I think NATO will exist, but Europe will not rely on NATO,” Jarlov said. “It’ll be a nice add-on.”

Trump and his most senior officials have shaken the very foundations of NATO by increasing their overtures toward Greenland, insisting the U.S. is the only country that should control the strategic Arctic territory to protect American national security and fend off any future Russian or Chinese influence.

Greenlandic leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen—as well as Danish officials—have insisted the island is not for sale and does not want to be controlled by the U.S. Greenland is a semi-autonomous part of Denmark. Copenhagen still directs its foreign and defense policy.

Most worryingly for the rest of NATO, the White House had refused to take the possibility of military action off the table, although it has indicated it would prefer to reach some form of deal to acquire the vast, mostly ice-covered landmass.

But Trump, in a speech to world leaders in the Swiss town of Davos on Wednesday, said the U.S. would not use its military to seize Greenland, which would violate international law.

“We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force,” Trump said, calling the U.S. “frankly unstoppable.”

“But I won’t do that,” he added, while also calling Greenland “part of North America” and “our territory.”

Nielsen on Tuesday had warned Greenland must “be prepared” for any possibility, including an armed attack by the U.S. Denmark’s defense minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, played down the possibility of Danish troops battling American forces, saying earlier this month he still believed one NATO state would not attack another and it remained “hypothetical.”

“There is a probability of military fighting in Greenland,” Jarlov said, speaking ahead of Trump’s speech. “We still think it’s low, but we cannot rule it out completely when the Americans don’t rule it out.”

NATO was founded on the idea that an attack on one alliance country would be considered an attack on all, with member states obligated to respond in a way they see fit. The prospect of the U.S.—the most influential and powerful member of NATO—attacking territory belonging to a fellow alliance member has always been unfathomable.

While NATO could still exist in name by early 2029, European countries will lean more on continental friendships and sidle closer to Canada, Jarlov said.

“It’s nice to have NATO, so, on a good day, you can hope that the Americans will come and help if Europe gets attacked, but we can’t be sure of it,” the Danish lawmaker said. “I don’t think NATO will ever come back to what it was before.”

“I don’t think NATO will be officially abolished, but, of course, it’s weakened so much already,” Jarlov added. “We can see now Denmark is under attack and we can see that our security guarantee is not NATO. It’s our friends in Europe.”

European countries are weighing their options for responding to tariffs Trump announced over the weekend he tied to their support of Nuuk and Copenhagen. The Republican said Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the U.K. would face a 10 percent tariff on goods imported into the U.S. from the start of next month, which would rise to 25 percent by early June. The economic measure will remain in force until “a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland,” Trump said in a post to social media.

Trump said in Davos he was “seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States.”

Trump had on Tuesday marked 365 days back in office, which the White House called the “most accomplished first year of any presidential term in modern history.” For Europe and Canada, the year has been marked by varying levels of anxiety over the U.S.’s pledges to NATO, and whether Washington could tear apart the alliance.