The unexpected capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife by U.S. forces in Caracas early Saturday morning has sent shockwaves worldwide. The operation has particularly raised alarms in Denmark and Greenland, a semiautonomous territory under the Danish kingdom and a member of NATO.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, alongside Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen, strongly criticized the U.S. President’s actions, cautioning against the potentially disastrous consequences of such aggression.

Leaders from across Europe have rallied in support of Denmark and Greenland, underscoring their concerns.

“If the United States opts to launch a military attack on another NATO country, it would bring everything to a halt,” Frederiksen stated in an interview with Danish broadcaster TV2 on Monday. “This includes the security assurances that have been in place since the conclusion of the Second World War.”

Throughout his second term and even during his presidential transition, President Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in bringing Greenland under U.S. jurisdiction. He has not dismissed the possibility of using military force to seize control of the island.

20-day timeline deepens fears

Trump called repeatedly during his presidential transition and the early months of his second term for US jurisdiction over Greenland, and has not ruled out military force to take control of the island.

His comments Sunday, including telling reporters “let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days,” further deepened fears that the US was planning an intervention in Greenland in the near future.

Frederiksen also said Trump “should be taken seriously” when he says he wants Greenland.

“We will not accept a situation where we and Greenland are threatened in this way,” she added.

Nielsen, in a news conference Monday, said Greenland cannot be compared to Venezuela.

He urged his constituents to stay calm and united.

“We are not in a situation where we think that there might be a takeover of the country overnight and that is why we are insisting that we want good cooperation,” he said.

Nielsen added: “The situation is not such that the United States can simply conquer Greenland.”

Ask Rostrup, a TV2 political journalist, wrote on the station’s live blog Monday that Mette previously would have flatly rejected the idea of an American takeover of Greenland.

But now, Rostrup wrote, the rhetoric has escalated so much that she has to acknowledge the possibility.

Trump slams Denmark’s security efforts in Greenland

Trump on Sunday also mocked Denmark’s efforts at boosting Greenland’s national security posture, saying the Danes have added “one more dog sled” to the Arctic territory’s arsenal.

“It’s so strategic right now,” Trump had told reporters Sunday as he flew back to Washington from his home in Florida.

“Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.”

He added: “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”

But Ulrik Pram Gad, a global security expert from the Danish Institute for International Studies, wrote in a report last year that “there are indeed Russian and Chinese ships in the Arctic, but these vessels are too far away to see from Greenland with or without binoculars.”

US space base in northwestern Greenland

Greenlanders and Danes were further rankled this weekend by a social media post following the raid by a former Trump administration official turned podcaster, Katie Miller.

The post shows an illustrated map of Greenland in the colors of the Stars and Stripes accompanied by the caption: “SOON.”

“And yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark’s chief envoy to Washington, said in a post responding to Miller, who is married to Trump’s influential deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.

The US Department of Defense operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland.

It was built following a 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. It supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.

On Denmark’s mainland, the partnership between the U.S. and Denmark has been long-lasting. The Danes buy American F-35 fighter jets and just last year, Denmark’s parliament approved a bill to allow US military bases on Danish soil.

Critics say the vote ceded Danish sovereignty to the U.S. The legislation widens a previous military agreement, made in 2023 with the Biden administration, where US troops had broad access to Danish air bases in the Scandinavian country.