They lost 52 soldiers fighting alongside the US. Now they feel threatened by Trump

All his big life, Colonel Soren Knudsen stepped guardant erstwhile his state called. And erstwhile its allies did.

He fought alongside US troops, notably successful Afghanistan, and for a clip was Denmark's astir elder serviceman there. He counted 58 rocket attacks during his duty.

"I was awarded a Bronze Star Medal by the United States and they gave maine the Stars and Stripes. They person been hanging connected my partition successful our location ever since and I person proudly shown them to everybody."

Then thing changed.

"After JD Vance's connection connected Greenland, the president's disrespect for internationally acknowledged borders, I took those that Stars and Stripes down and the medal has been enactment away," Soren says, his dependable breaking a little.

This week earlier Congress, the US president doubled down connected his tendency to prehend the world's biggest island: Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

"My archetypal feeling was that it hurts, and the 2nd is that I'm offended," Col Knudsen laments.

I conscionable him successful the archetypal weeks of his status extracurricular Denmark's 18th Century royal residence, Amalienborg Palace successful the bosom of Copenhagen.

Abruptly, pipers onslaught up and soldiers watercourse by.

Today's Changing of the Guard comes astatine a clip erstwhile the Trump medication has not conscionable tweaked but defenestrated astir assumptions astir US-European information that person held accelerated for 80 years.

"It's astir values and erstwhile those values are axed by what we thought was an ally, it gets precise pugnacious to watch." Soren says with his American woman Gina astatine his side.

"Denmark freely and without question joined those efforts wherever my hubby served,” she says.

"So it comes arsenic a daze to perceive threats from a state that I besides emotion and to consciousness that confederation is being trampled on. Tthis feels personal, not similar immoderate abstract overseas argumentation tactic."

Soren has not fixed up each anticipation though.

"It's my anticipation and my supplication that I volition 1 time beryllium capable to enactment [the flag] backmost connected the wall", helium confides.

There's nary motion his prayers volition beryllium answered soon.

Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, goes to the polls adjacent week with each the main parties backing independency astatine immoderate constituent successful the future.

A takeover by Donald Trump – perchance by unit – is not connected the ballot paper.

Not acold from the royal palace stands Denmark's memorial to its soldiers mislaid successful caller battle.

Carved connected the stone-covered walls are the names of those killed alongside their Western allies.

The conception honouring the fallen successful the US-led penetration of Afghanistan is peculiarly sizeable.

Denmark mislaid 44 soldiers successful Afghanistan, which arsenic a proportionality of its little than six cardinal population, was much than immoderate different state isolated from the US. In Iraq, 8 Danish soldiers died.

This is wherefore the president's words sting truthful much.

One antheral precise good placed to see what Trump's ambitions for Greenland really magnitude to is Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

"President Trump's declaration of volition to possibly instrumentality Greenland by unit is precise akin to President Putin's rhetoric erstwhile it comes to Ukraine," helium tells the BBC.

The erstwhile premier curate of Denmark and ex-secretary wide of the Nato confederation argues this is the infinitesimal Denmark and the remainder of Europe indispensable measurement up to amended support itself if the US is not consenting to.

"Since my childhood, I person admired the United States and their relation arsenic the world's policeman. And I deliberation we request a policeman to guarantee planetary instrumentality and bid but if the United States does not privation to execute that role, past Europe indispensable beryllium capable to support itself, to basal connected its ain feet."

Fogh Rasmussen doesn't though judge the policeman is astir to crook felon.

"I would similar to accent I don't deliberation astatine the extremity of the time that the Americans volition instrumentality Greenland by force."

President Trump archetypal talked astir a Greenland takeover successful his archetypal word of bureau earlier returning to the taxable astatine the commencement of this year.

But now, aft blindsiding expected allies with his latest moves connected Ukraine, tariffs, arsenic good arsenic the Middle East, Denmark is urgently trying the measure the existent threat.

For galore younger Danes, power of Greenland is plain incorrect - an unfathomable assemblage hangover.

It doesn't mean they privation it handed consecutive implicit the US instead.

"We bash person connections to Greenland," says euphony pupil Molly. "Denmark and Greenland are rather separated I would accidental but I inactive person friends from determination truthful this does impact maine rather personally."

"I find it truly scary," says 18-year-old euphony pupil Luukas.

"Everything helium sees, helium goes after. And the happening with the lipid and money, helium doesn't attraction astir the climate, helium doesn't attraction astir anyone oregon anything."

His person Clara chips successful that Trump is present truthful almighty helium tin "affect their day-to-day life" from thousands of miles away, successful what is an epoch of unprecedented jeopardy.

In airy of President Trump's suspension of subject assistance for Ukraine and his heavy reluctance to money Europe's security, Denmark has been astatine the bosom of the thrust to boost defence spending crossed the continent.

The state has conscionable announced it volition allocate much than 3% of its GDP to defence spending successful 2025 and 2026 to support against aboriginal aggression from Russia oregon elsewhere.

Meanwhile, information expert Hans Tino Hansen stands successful beforehand of a immense surface successful what helium calls his "ops room", astatine his Copenhagen headquarters.

"This representation is wherever we update connected a regular ground our menace representation based connected alerts and incidents each implicit the world," says Hans, who has been moving Risk Intelligence for the past 25 years.

As portion of Denmark's accrued defence spending, it's bolstering its spot successful the "High North" with an other 2 cardinal euros announced successful January and 3 caller Arctic naval vessels and concern successful long-range drones.

Hans believes Arctic information tin beryllium tightened further, not by an American takeover - but with caller deals that reconstruct US influence.

"If you marque much agreements, some connected defence and security, but besides economical ones and connected earthy materials, past we are much oregon little going backmost to wherever we were successful the 50s and 60s."

But the communicative stretches further backmost than the mid-20th Century.

"If you look astatine this globe, Greenland is the astir centrally located spot connected Earth," says world-renowned geologist Prof Minik Rosing, gesticulating successful his wood-panelled office.

The serenity of his country reflects the temperament of a antheral who grew up successful a colony of conscionable "seven oregon 8 people" successful the Nuuk fjord of the island.

But a cardinal crushed his homeland is present coming nether expanding scrutiny from outsiders is the affluent mineral deposits beneath the Arctic ice.

We've seen however Ukraine's earthy resources person caught President Trump's oculus successful overmuch the aforesaid way.

"All these minerals that they speech astir similar uncommon metals, uncommon world elements - they are really not rare. What is uncommon is the usage of them," helium reasons.

Prof Rosing says the vastness of Greenland and the deficiency of infrastructure are conscionable 2 elements wherefore the land whitethorn not beryllium the cashpoint immoderate Americans are hoping for.

"They are a minuscule portion of the mining manufacture and the system of extracting them is precise uncertain, whereas the concern to commencement extracting is precise high. The hazard of the concern is excessively precocious comparative to the imaginable gain."

The existent Greenlandic authorities says determination volition beryllium a ballot connected independency astatine immoderate constituent pursuing adjacent week's election.

Although surely unintentional, President Trump's designs connected the land person shone a airy connected a tendency recovered among the Inuit to yet interruption escaped from 300 years of Danish control.

But Prof Rosing believes, contempt each the latent mineral wealth, his chap Greenlanders are successful nary hurry to forego the yearly artifact assistance of the equivalent of £480m (€570m) it receives from Copenhagen.

This accounts for easy much than fractional of the island's nationalist budget.

"People speech astir wellness services, schools, the adjacent outboard motor they privation connected their vessel and what is the terms of state and each of these things that mean radical do," helium says.

"It's not similar they basal up with a large knife, question it successful the aerial and outcry independence, independence."

In presumption of Trump's evident obsession with taking Greenland, Fogh Rasmussen fears determination whitethorn beryllium a troubling decision to beryllium drawn.

One that would render the Danes incapable to bash concern with a antheral whose presumption connected territorial integrity is truthful wildly incompatible from theirs.

"I recognize precise good the American strategical involvement successful the minerals, but erstwhile it comes to mining successful Greenland, they person shown nary interest," helium says.

"That leaves maine with the interest that possibly it's not astir security, possibly it's not astir minerals, possibly it is conscionable a question of expanding the territory of the United States.

"And that's really a constituent wherever we are not capable to accommodate President Trump."

Additional reporting by Kostas Kallergis