Danish troops who fought alongside US forces feel betrayed, as Trump threatens Greenland and denigrates NATO

“It’s very disrespectful.”

That’s how Danish veteran Gerth Sloth Berthelsen, who grew up in Greenland, said he feels about the United States’ recent behavior. Berthelsen served alongside American forces in a peacekeeping mission to North Macedonia in 1996 and 1997. Now, he is one of several veterans saying they are taken aback by the hostility coming from an ally whose soldiers were once their brothers-in-arms.

Berthelsen, who is half Greenlandic and now works in a non-combat role for the army in Denmark, described how feelings of fear, unease and betrayal have been permeating through communities in both places, after the Trump administration repeatedly made threats to “acquire” Greenland before walking them back this week.

Mere hours after demanding “right, title, and ownership” of the autonomous Danish territory on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump did a U-turn, announcing he had “formed the framework of a future deal” on Greenland following a meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte.

European allies welcomed news of the framework, but some warned that the damage to the EU-US relationship is already done, even after the US backed away from threats to hit them with additional trade tariffs over their opposition to a US takeover.

Meanwhile, the mood in Nuuk and Copenhagen remains tense as Greenlanders and Danes wrestle with a new reality in which the US has become a threat.

“When you experience this kind of hostile behavior, you kind of get shocked,” Berthelsen told CNN in an interview last week. “When it comes from an ally, it’s not understandable how that even can happen.”

The Danish military has a long history of serving alongside the US – on NATO missions, United Nations peacekeeping missions, and in the US-led conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Denmark has mandatory military service for both men and women, but the small number of Greenlandic soldiers who join the Danish defense forces are all volunteers.

The Kingdom of Denmark suffered significant casualties in Afghanistan, where its forces deployed to Helmand Province – one of the deadliest theaters of the war. Denmark’s involvement began in 2001, following the September 11 attacks on the US and over the years that followed it deployed nearly 20,000 personnel through the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

At least 41 Danish soldiers were killed there – a very high per capita rate compared to the other nations who joined the force, given that Denmark and its autonomous territories have a population of only 6 million. It suffered further casualties in the Iraq War, losing eight soldiers, according to research from the Danish Defence Medical Command.

“Many of our veterans that we work with have served alongside Americans, and there’s no – absolutely no – respect for their service and their office,” Berthelsen added.

He and fellow veteran Mads Rasmussen jointly chair the Veteranprojekt Grønland, an organization based in Denmark that supports veterans through social connections and nature rehabilitation. It facilitates an annual trip to Greenland for Veterans’ Day, where they meet up with serving Greenlandic soldiers and vets.

“Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people. At the same time, we are shocked by the United States’ conduct and the disrespect we are witnessing in general and in relation to international law,” the chairmen previously said in a joint statement, also noting that they do not speak on behalf of other veterans in their organization.

Another Greenlandic soldier, Salik Augustinussen, penned an open letter to the American people earlier this month – before the Trump U-turn – emphasizing that Denmark and its autonomous territories did not hesitate to help the US following the September 11 attacks.

“I stood side by side with my brothers and sisters in arms from the US, from Europe, from NATO in Afghanistan to fight with you after what happened in the US (on) 9/11,” wrote Augustinussen in a social media post. He likened threats to Greenland to a “blue on blue” attack on NATO members.

“If the US president decides to let the military to go invade Greenland, you are attacking me and my family,” the Greenlandic soldier said. “You are attacking the brothers and sisters who stood side by side with you when you were attacked.”

The only time in history that NATO has invoked Article 5, which states that an attack against one member is an attack against all, was following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US.

Trump backed off the idea of using military force to take Greenland on Wednesday, just before his climbdown and deal announcement. But his other harsh rhetoric in relation to the Arctic territory and NATO allies is still reverberating across the alliance.

In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, he added baselessly that NATO troops had stayed “a little off the front lines” in the Afghan war, sparking outrage among some US allies who lost more than 1,000 troops in the conflict.

After Trump claimed in his speech in Davos, Switzerland, that NATO countries would not defend the US if it came under attack, adding “ what we have gotten out of NATO is nothing,” a barrage of European soldiers took to social media to remind the US president of their extensive service in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

“Here’s me a Norwegian soldier doing nothing for America in Afghanistan 2007 and 2012,” one man wrote on Reddit, alongside a photo of himself in a firing position. Like many other NATO allies, Norway’s civilian and military involvement in Afghanistan stretched from 2001 to 2021, according to its defense ministry.

Posts from people saying they served in Afghanistan for Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom followed suit.

Another man posted a photo in his military fatigues, captioned: “Here’s me a Canadian soldier doing nothing for America in Afghanistan 2008.” Canada also deployed to Afghanistan for more than a decade, with more than 40,000 Canadians serving there and 158 losing their lives.

In comments to Danish Media outlet TV2, another Greenlandic veteran, Kununguak Iversen, said he felt “a bit backstabbed” by the Trump administration’s behavior, following his own deployment to Iraq as part of a US-led coalition in 2006.

“It’s about the fact that we picked up the phone when they called. The fact that they then treat us the way they are doing now is not okay,” Iversen told TV2 earlier this month.

Greenland deal still unclear

An emergency summit of EU leaders that was called to discuss Trump’s threats against Greenland went ahead on Thursday. Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch went as far as telling CNN on Wednesday: “We’re not out of the woods.”

Meanwhile, the details of the framework deal on Greenland are still unclear.

Trump and Rutte reached a verbal understanding on Wednesday, but no document has yet been produced laying out a future deal, people familiar with their discussion told CNN.

They agreed to further discussions about updating a 1951 agreement between the US, Denmark and Greenland that governs the US military’s presence on the island, the sources said. The framework also guarantees that Russia and China will be barred from any investments in Greenland and stipulates an enhanced role for NATO in Greenland, they said.

A NATO official told CNN one proposal that was discussed in the meetings on Wednesday among NATO officials, and that has been floated in previous talks between members of the alliance and Rutte, was the possibility of Denmark allowing the US to build more military bases in Greenland and that land considered sovereign US territory.

“It is not clear if that proposal would ultimately be part of the framework US President Donald Trump alluded to on Wednesday as he stepped back from his tariff threats following a meeting with Rutte, but broadly, an increase in the US military presence in Greenland has been a through- line in discussions,” the official said.

The US already has one base in northwestern Greenland, the Pituffik Space Base, made possible through the defense agreement penned in 1951, which was updated in 1981, and re-signed in 2004. The US had a much larger military presence in Greenland during the Cold War, but chose to shutter other bases as the apparent threat receded.

CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, Kevin Liptak, Todd Symans, Issy Ronald and Madalena Araujo contributed to this story.