Diplomacy was working at full speed, and the telephone lines across the Atlantic were red-hot
This is how Jeppe Kofod recalls the situation in 2019 when U.S. President Donald Trump wanted to buy Greenland.
Jeppe Kofod, who was then Foreign Minister, first thought it was a joke when the rumors began to spread, but when Trump later confirmed it, he knew it was serious.
The situation quickly escalated when Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the idea an "absurd discussion", because Trump was so offended that he canceled an otherwise planned state visit to Denmark.
Jeppe Kofod was subsequently to help sort out the threads between Donald Trump and Mette Frederiksen, he says in DR's political podcast Slotsholmen.
There was close coordination between central ministries, not least the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We are also getting our embassy in Washington up and running to clarify what is up and down in this issue, says Jeppe Kofod.
The lines to the U.S. were already hot, because planning for the state visit had been in full swing. Denmark also knew about Trump's interest in Greenland, but the officials had not seen this specific situation coming.
We were ready to handle a lot of things, but an offer to buy Greenland came as something of a surprise, says Kofod, who called U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
You could say that our bosses are Mette Frederiksen, the Prime Minister, who was my boss at the time, and Donald Trump, who was Mike Pompeo's boss. We could see what was going on, and so it was our job to get a better tone between the U.S. and Denmark, and of course also Greenland. So that's what we started doing right away, he says.
I told him that the way he treated his allies, I don't think that was right, says Kofod, referring to both the comments about Greenland and the cancelled state visit.
It was a bit of an insult to Denmark, including Her Majesty the Queen, who would have hosted such a visit, says Jeppe Kofod, who remembers that "the phones were red-hot across the Atlantic".
So, diplomacy was underway, partly to find out what it was that Trump really wanted, and partly to ensure a process where cooperation could be strengthened between Greenland, Denmark and then the United States. Because that was what everyone had an interest in, not least us in Denmark.
According to Kofod, the U.S. Secretary of State was responsive.
He was, in a way, without revealing the content of the conversation, very apologetic in his form and really only wanted to strengthen the ties between Denmark and the United States.
Trump and Mette Frederiksen also ended up talking, and Trump subsequently called Mette Frederiksen a "wonderful woman".
Although there are similarities with the situation today, Jeppe Kofod also believes that the situation the government is in today is more difficult.
We have become part of an American game with Trump as the conductor, which he uses domestically. That is a clear difference, says Jeppe Kofod, who also points out that Trump, when directly asked, has not rejected using military and economic power in relation to gaining control of Greenland.
Kofod hopes, however, that Trump's interest in Greenland can end in something good.
Of course, it is a more difficult situation, but again: It is all an expression of Trump's preoccupation with Greenland, and that can be turned into advantages for Greenland and Denmark if one behaves diplomatically wisely. At least I think that is what the history from 2019 shows, says Jeppe Kofod.
Source: dr.dk (in Danish)
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