Denmark Warns Trump White House on Greenland Spying

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said "you cannot spy against an ally" after a news report that the U.S. is gathering more intelligence on Greenland, the semi-autonomous Danish territory that U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to control.

Frederiksen made the comment to the Associated Press a day after Denmark—a NATO ally of the U.S.—had summoned the top U.S. diplomat in Copenhagen to explain the report to its foreign minister.

Why It Matters

Trump has shown interest in Greenland, a large Arctic island to the northeast of Canada, because of its significance to U.S. national security and its vast, untapped natural resources.

He has said the U.S. will take control of Greenland eventually and has not ruled out military intervention, alarming American allies, particularly Denmark. The U.S. has a military base on the island.

What To Know

The heads of American intelligence agencies were directed to gather more information about Greenland's independence movement and attitudes to the U.S. extracting resources there, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the effort.

This instruction came from high-ranking officials under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, the Journal reported, and included an order to identify people in Greenland and Denmark who support U.S. objectives for the island.

Jennifer Hall Godfrey, acting head of the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, met with high-ranking Danish diplomat Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen at the Danish Foreign Ministry over the Journal article published on Tuesday.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told broadcaster DR outside a meeting Wednesday with colleagues in Poland that Denmark would summon the U.S. diplomat to seek a "rebuttal" or other explanation following the report.

Rasmussen, who has previously scolded the Trump administration over its criticism of NATO ally Denmark and Greenland, said the information in the report was "very worrying" and "we don't spy between friends."

"We are looking at this with quite a lot of seriousness," he added.

What People Are Saying

Denmark's Frederiksen said: "Cooperation about defense and deterrence and security in the northern part of Europe is getting more and more important. Of course, you cannot spy against an ally."

Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told the newspaper Sermitsiaq: "To talk about espionage against an ally and partner, it is completely unacceptable. In addition, it is also disrespectful."

In response to questions about the Journal's report, DNI Tulsi Gabbard's office released a statement noting that she had made three "criminal" referrals to the Justice Department over intelligence community leaks. Nearly a dozen more leak cases are being investigated, Gabbard said in the statement.

"The Wall Street Journal should be ashamed of aiding deep state actors who seek to undermine the President by politicizing and leaking classified information," Gabbard wrote.

"They are breaking the law and undermining our nation's security and democracy. Those who leak classified information will be found and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."

What Happens Next

It's not clear if or how the Trump administration will make a move for Greenland. Polling from the island shows a strong desire for independence from Denmark, but not to join the U.S. as a state, or to fall under its control in some other way.

This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.