Particularly one specific sentence stands out in the annual threat assessment, where the Danish Defence Intelligence Service (FE) lists external threats and security policy challenges for Denmark.
And notably, it is not about Russia or China. For the first time, the intelligence service in the report titled ’Udsyn 2025’ also focuses on the United States under Donald Trump’s leadership.
»The US is now using its economic and technological strength as a means of power, even against allies and partners«, the main conclusion states.
According to FE chief Thomas Ahrenkiel, it is »completely correct« that the intelligence service has not previously had formulations that address the U.S. in the same way. He explains that there is greater uncertainty about the U.S.’s »future role« because the country is increasingly aiming for strategic stability among the major military powers, thereby approaching a world divided into spheres of interest. Thus, the rule-based world is »now replaced by another form of thinking«.
»The U.S. has been the guarantor of our security for generations, so it increases the security policy uncertainty when there is uncertainty about the U.S.’s future role in Europe and more broadly. And therefore also the challenges we face. It is a serious situation, and that’s why we are putting more effort into describing and analyzing that part«, he says.
What do you specifically mean by economy and technology as a means of power?
»In the economic area, tariffs are a good example of threatening with and implementing increased tariffs if one is dissatisfied with developments in a region or country. In the technological area, it is about preventing strategic adversaries from accessing technologies or, as some in the U.S. would say, making other countries dependent on American technology, thereby reducing their incentive to develop the same technologies«.
Especially in relation to President Donald Trump’s demand to own Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark has felt the changes in security policy. Recently, Politiken has been able to uncover significant American interests in Greenland and attempts to hold bilateral meetings between the U.S. and Greenland bypassing Denmark. In the new threat assessment, FE merely describes increased competition among the great powers in the Arctic, including from the U.S., and notes that this attention increases the threat from espionage and influence attempts.
Is it Russia and China? Or could it also come from the U.S.?
»We focus on what Russia and China are doing, including in relation to the Arctic area. We see this increased interest«.
But with Donald Trump’s statements about wanting to take over Greenland, are you as a service then forced to be interested in the U.S.’s actions in the same way as you do with Russia and China?
»The U.S. has for many years been and remains our most important ally when it comes to our security. So we work closely with the U.S. and with the American services in several areas. That is no secret. It is also clear that we are concerned with how the U.S. acts and also have dialogue with the U.S. regarding American interests«.
But doesn’t it almost go without saying that if someone wants to take over part of Denmark’s territory, it is your job to keep track of it?
»There is no doubt that it interests us and falls within our task. What instruments we use, we do not comment on«.
Is the U.S. our friend or enemy?
»I think that is a political question. We do not focus on friends and enemies; our task is to look at what security policy challenges and threats Denmark faces«.
Is there anything to suggest that the U.S.’s ambitions have changed regarding Greenland? That it has been forgotten because there is so much to deal with in the world?
»We, like everyone else, have seen what the president has stated, and we also note here in Udsyn (the threat assessment report, ed.) that the U.S. shows greater interest in developments in the Arctic, including regarding Greenland«.
Experts: Remarkable
According to Professor of International Politics Ole Wæver from the University of Copenhagen, it is remarkable that FE »finally« suggests that the U.S. and Europe are no longer two sides of the same coin. For Denmark, he describes it as a »painful divorce« because, compared to many other European countries, we have been »hyper-Atlantic«.
»One thing is that we cannot take for granted that the U.S. is our eternal, reliable ally when we need to counter a threat from Russia and China. The next is how to relate to the fact that the U.S. itself can be a threat. Not least in Greenland. If the service really delved into that question, they would need to write an entire chapter about it in Udsyn«, he says.
Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard, senior researcher in U.S. foreign policy at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), also notes the sentence about the U.S. In itself, he considers it a »well-known fact«. But it is remarkable that the intelligence service writes it down because they are cautious about criticizing the U.S.
Conversely, from the senior researcher’s perspective, it would increasingly seem »strange« not to mention how the U.S., led by Donald Trump, acts aggressively towards allies.
»This is also a warning to Danish politicians that we are economically and technologically so dependent on the U.S. that they can hit us hard if they want. Therefore, one should consider how to become less dependent«, he says.
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