UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he supports Denmark after Donald Trump threatened to take over Greenland. Starmer said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was “right” to reject Trump’s claim to the territory. Trump has been repeating his plans to take control of Greenland after his recent action to capture Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro.
According to The Independent, Starmer’s support for NATO ally Denmark comes as Trump hinted over the weekend that Venezuela might not be the last country the US takes action against. Trump has also made claims about another NATO ally, Canada. Trump told the Atlantic magazine, “We do need Greenland, absolutely,” after the Venezuela operation.
Trump has been making claims on Greenland since January last year, and in February, Starmer backed Denmark against US demands. Katie Miller, wife of Trump’s senior aide Stephen Miller, posted a picture on social media showing Greenland in American flag colors with the word “soon” after the Venezuela action.
The UK stands firmly with Denmark against American territorial claims
The Danish leader responded strongly, saying in a statement that “the US has no right to annex any of the three nations in the Danish kingdom.” Greenland is one of these nations. Denmark’s prime minister has been vocal about Trump’s attempts to acquire Greenland, firmly rejecting any American territorial claims.
When asked about Frederiksen’s strong words during a visit to a community center in Berkshire, Starmer told reporters: “Well, I stand with her, and she’s right about the future of Greenland.”The prime minister has not yet spoken to Trump, but the UK’s position was shared by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper in a call to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday evening.
When Starmer was asked if he agreed with Danish calls for Trump to stop proposing American control of the island, Starmer said “Yes.” Starmer added that “Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark are to decide the future of Greenland, and only Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark.” He said Denmark is a close ally in Europe and a NATO ally, making it very important that Greenland’s future is decided only by Denmark and Greenland.
The Labour government has been building closer ties with Denmark in recent months and learning from Frederiksen’s government on how to stop illegal migration. Former attorney general Dominic Grieve said there was “no legal basis” for the Venezuela action and warned that the new claims on Greenland showed Trump was working off “fantasies about the United States right to intervene anywhere within the western hemisphere.”
However, Starmer refused to condemn Trump over the US action against Venezuela, despite growing concern from Labour MPs and opposition parties including the Greens and Liberal Democrats. Trump’s special envoy recently made statements about US territorial expansion and conquest, which have raised eyebrows internationally. Labour’s former shadow attorney general Dame Emily
Thornberry became the most senior Labour figure to criticize the US actions, saying “it must be called out.” But Starmer told reporters the US will “want to justify” its actions in international law, though he would not say whether he believed the US had broken international law.
Published: Jan 5, 2026 03:15 pm