Explosives and blood reserves This is how seriously Denmark has prepared for Trump's Greenland attack
The year 2026 has begun with many sleepless nights for the Danish government: Following the US coup in Venezuela, Donald Trump's desire for Greenland has put the country and also the armed forces on alert. A Danish report now shows just how much.
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- Following the US seizure of Nicolás Maduro at the beginning of January, Denmark has been seriously considering a possible military invasion of Greenland by American troops.
- The sudden joint deployment of several European soldiers and naval and air forces was aimed at making a spontaneous annexation as unattractive as possible.
- Danish soldiers had explicit orders not to de-escalate. Copenhagen provided explosives and blood reserves. F-35 jets carried live weapons.
First the US armed forces attacked Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro at the beginning of January, then Donald Trump threatened Greenland, which belongs to Denmark: Copenhagen planned for an emergency under these circumstances at the beginning of the year, as the Danish broadcaster DR now reports.
"If Trump keeps saying that he wants to take over Greenland and then what happened in Venezuela happens, we have to take all scenarios seriously," a military officer explained to the Danish broadcaster. Because: "The official USA does not function as it normally does."
According to the Danes' assessment of the situation, there are fewer professionals in the US administration who can put the president back on the right track. The government was therefore in close consultation with its European allies - especially Paris and Berlin.
Deployment of the Europeans
France offered help in the form of a small battalion, i.e. several hundred soldiers, says the DR source: "Would you like more soldiers? You could have them," they said. "Would you like more naval support? You could get that. Would you like more air support? You could get that too."
In January, the Europeans deploy advance units to Greenland: Danish, French, German, Norwegian and Swedish soldiers fly to Nuuk and Kangerlussuaq. France sends a warship to the North Atlantic, Copenhagen stations F-35s on the island.
Other troops follow - "including soldiers from the Dragoon Regiment in Holstebro, elite soldiers from the Jäger Corps and French Alpine fighters trained for war in cold, mountainous areas", DR knows. The aim was to make the capture of Greenland as expensive as possible for Trump.
Sharp weapons, explosives and blood reserves
It had even gone so far as to deploy the F-35 jets with live weapons. At the same time, however, no one in Copenhagen was under the "illusion" that it would be possible to fend off the Americans militarily in an emergency, the public broadcaster continues.
«We have not been in such a situation since April 1940.»
The Danish-led Operation Arctic Endurance, which was hastily called at the end of January, was also less of a maneuver and more of a precautionary measure, according to the DR: the navy ships had explosives and live ammunition on board.
The explosives were apparently intended to sabotage the runway at Nuuk and Kangerlussuaq airports to prevent them from being used by the USA. The soldiers had been expressly ordered not to de-escalate in the event of a conflict.
Whether European allies would have actually helped is written in the stars. "I am very glad that we did not have to answer this question," a high-ranking German official told the DR. It would have meant the end of Nato: "We may never know whether they prepared the use of military force," the source said.
