Greenland: The New Arctic Ice Age is Coming

 What is the definition of a working group?

If you are a Dane, it is a serious attempt to bring interested parties together to reach a consensus or compromise on a particularly difficult issue. If you are an American government official, you know that a working group is where a good idea goes to die the death of a thousand cuts over a long period of time.

Knowing that, what can the Danes and the Greenlanders expect from the new "Greenland Working Group" (GWG) that was formed as a result of a meeting this week in Washington between officials from all three governments?

Before we attempt to answer that question, let's understand a couple things: the first is that the Americans and the Danes have had their own working groups toiling for many months if not years on the "Greenland issue." 

In the U.S., the group(s) have comprised elements from the Pentagon and NORTHCOM, all intelligence agencies, Commerce and State Departments, American embassies in the Nordic region, congressional and senatorial foreign  relations committee members, and the U.S. private sector (hereunder the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and major mining and energy companies).

In Denmark, the group is essentially comprised of the same national components but with a BIG addition of the Greenlanders, their Nordic neighbors, and the rest of the European Union, plus NATO.

Each has their own marching orders and their own agenda, and while reporting may be de-centralized, others have direct communications with the people at the top of the power pyramid.

After Thursday's D.C. meeting with the Danes and Greenlanders, each position is now crystal clear: the American government (the president) wants Greenland in some manner or form under U.S. control. The Danes want the status quo that keeps Greenland under its protection as a possession of the Kingdom of Denmark.

The Greenlanders say that "Greenland is not for sale" and that any movement away from the current Danish-Greenland relationship would have to start with a public referendum on Greenland's future as a totally independent country, something that Greenlanders are far from implementing.

The new Arctic Ice Age freeze

At present, anti-Americanism is on the rise in Denmark and in Greenland. Nothing has excited the populations of both countries more in the last few years except perhaps their handball and soccer teams. Even the war in Gaza has taken a step back in the Danish consciousness and made room for protests against the U.S. over Greenland. It is now fashionable to be anti-American in Denmark.

Merchandising has also caught up with the wave of  pro-"Danish realm" sentiment. MAGA-red colored baseball caps can now be seen with lettering saying: "Make America Go Away" and Greenland flags hang from apartment windows in Copenhagen and other major Danish cities. Even the old "Yankee go home" phrase that was popular in the fifties in South America has been resurrected and now adorns banners held high on the Copenhagen City Hall square.

A so-called "bi-partisan" delegation of U.S. senators and congressional representatives was here having meetings with the socialist Danish prime minister and her government officials and parliamentarians along with Greenlandic officials.

The delegation had two Republicans out of ten members, both who are widely known as RINOs for being Republican in name only: Sen. Thom Tillis and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The Dems were headed up by Sens. Chris Coons and Dick Durbin, who have never found any reason to praise Donald Trump.

While protesters are feeling their adrenalin, bureaucrats and diplomats are biting their nails, wondering what President Trump's next steps might be.

It is worth noting that immediately after the D.C. meeting was over and a press conference was being held at the Danish Embassy in Washington, the defense minister and his chief of the military were holding a press conference in Copenhagen in which they announced that a large Greenland NATO military exercise would soon take place at Denmark's invitation.

There is no question that this was done as a show of force to blunt Donald Trump's saber-rattling, but the question is: "Will this only provoke the president and stiffen his resolve to take other steps?"

I suspect we will be seeing the first iceberg of the new Arctic ice age appear soon in the form of actions that the president could take that would deep-freeze the relationship with Denmark and Greenland.

Some of those could include cutting or suspending certain programs like: climate and energy cooperation that is run through the executive branch where funding is discretionary; scientific and research cooperation with NSF and USGS Arctic research, again where the president can re-allocate or reduce funding; on cultural and educational exchanges such as the Fulbright program in which the president could narrow country participation or delay appointments. Then there is the trade component where the president can impose additional tariffs on those countries that do not agree with his position on Greenland.

The new ice age is not one-sided

The Danes are not alone in their position on Greenland. A few major EU members have already voiced their support for the Danes and Greenland and are willing to stand together to stop the red (white and blue) "menace" in its tracks.

The NATO exercises are but the start, and selective measures could be taken to push back as a union and as individual nations against Trump.

Boycotts are already springing up against American products, and on American vacation destinations and American services. There is every reason to believe a new tide of anti-Americanism will rise quickly and freeze over the many gains that were made by thousands of serious people who worked tirelessly over the generations to forge the bonds of America's international relationships with post-war Europe. The last glacial period of the actual ice age ended about 12,000 years ago. It's anyone's guess how long the new Arctic ice age could last once the freeze begins.

 

Stephen Helgesen is a retired American diplomat specializing in international trade. He has lived and worked in 30 countries over the course of 25 years under the Reagan, G.H.W. Bush, Clinton, and G.W. Bush administrations. He is the author of fourteen books, seven of them on American politics, and has written more than 1,500 articles on politics, economics, and social trends. He now lives in Denmark and is a frequent political commentator in Danish media. 

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/01/greenland_the_new_arctic_ice_age_is_coming.html