In a powerful display of solidarity and dissent, hundreds gathered in Copenhagen on Saturday, converging outside the U.S. Embassy to voice their disapproval. The demonstrators, many of whom are military veterans with firsthand experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, rallied against recent comments and actions by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Their grievances stem from Trump’s controversial proposal that the United States purchase Greenland from Denmark, coupled with his remarks at the Davos summit, where he suggested that NATO forces, including those from Denmark, did not fully commit when fighting alongside U.S. troops in the Middle East. These statements have stirred feelings of betrayal among Danish veterans who served in these war-torn regions.
Carsten Rasmussen, the president of the Danish Veterans Association, shared the sentiments of the protesters with The Associated Press. “They feel let down,” Rasmussen stated. “These veterans stood shoulder to shoulder with American and British forces, enduring the same trials and dangers. They fought and bled together, and 52 of our own never came back.”
The toll on Denmark has indeed been significant. In Afghanistan alone, 44 Danish soldiers lost their lives, marking the highest per capita death toll among NATO countries involved in the conflict. An additional eight soldiers died in Iraq. This is a considerable sacrifice for a nation with a population of just over 6 million as of 2025.
In a poignant tribute during the protest, the demonstrators laid 52 flags, each bearing the name of a fallen soldier, outside the embassy. This somber act served as a reminder of the human cost of war and the deep ties forged between allied nations on the battlefield.
During the protest, demonstrators laid 52 flags with the names of the fallen outside the embassy.
“Behind all these flags, there’s a guy, there’s a soldier, there’s a young man,” Lt. Col. Niels Christian Koefoed, a Dane who served in Afghanistan, told Reuters.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Trump’s remarks about staying a “little back” “”insulting and frankly appalling,” to which Trump wrote on Truth Social: “The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!”
He didn’t, however, acknowledge the sacrifices of other NATO troops.
“Denmark has always stood side by side with the USA — and we have showed up in the world’s crisis zones when the USA has asked us to,” Danish Veterans & Veteran Support, the group that organized the protest, said in a statement. “We feel let down and ridiculed by the Trump Administration, which is deliberately disregarding Denmark’s combat side by side with the USA.”
Hundreds of Danish veterans and other demonstrators protested outside the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, Saturday. (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
The group added that “Words cannot describe how much it hurts us that Denmark’s contributions and sacrifices in the fight for democracy, peace and freedom are being forgotten in the White House.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
On Greenland earlier this month, U.S. ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker told Fox News Digital that NATO has a “tendency to overreact.”
Whitaker said Greenland’s importance has been clear for years as the ice melts, it reshapes the Arctic and opens new routes. “The security of the high north, which I’ve talked about a lot before this ever happened, is the most important issue,” he said. “As the ice thaws and as routes open up in the Arctic, Arctic security, and therefore the security of Greenland, which is the northern flank of the continental United States, is crucial.”
The protesters felt “insulted” by President Donald Trump’s remark that NATO troops stayed “a little back” in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
He stressed that Greenland’s location makes it central to U.S. defense planning. “If you think about Greenland as part of the access to the naval assets, that monitoring and awareness and fortification of that part of the Western Hemisphere is crucial for the long-term security of the United States,” Whitaker said.
He said recent diplomacy shows the issue can be addressed without escalation. “I know that a very successful meeting happened between the Danes and Greenland and Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, so I think it’s going to be constructive.”
