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The Danish government called in the top U.S. diplomat in Copenhagen on Wednesday to ask for clarity on reports that U.S. citizens have been conducting what is described as a, quote, "influence operation" in Greenland. The suspicion is that they were attempting to raise tensions between Denmark and the leaders of Greenland, the semiautonomous island that President Trump has claimed the U.S. should possess. But as Teri Schultz reports, the situation might work in Copenhagen's favor now.
TERI SCHULTZ, BYLINE: Unacceptable, but perhaps not entirely unexpected - that's how Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen characterized reports that three Americans had been identified poking around Greenland, trying to stir up anti-Danish sentiment among citizens there.
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LARS LOKKE RASMUSSEN: (Speaking Danish).
SCHULTZ: "We've known for a long time that foreign actors are interested in these things," Rasmussen told local media when the story broke. "Now that some light has been shed on it," he went on, "I think this is really good for creating resilience both in Greenland and Denmark so that we know what we may be up against."
The national police intelligence service has confirmed its conclusion that an influence campaign has been underway. Danish radio cites multiple unnamed sources suggesting the individuals were linked to the Trump administration, prompting Foreign Minister Rasmussen to summon the U.S. embassy's top official, Mark Stroh, to ask if that's true and to emphasize that if so, it's a violation of international law. This is sensitive territory for Denmark, literally and figuratively, after Trump's many threats to take over Greenland - by force if necessary.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think we're going to get it. One way or the other, we're going to get it.
SCHULTZ: Greenlanders have plenty of gripes against the Danish government, ranging from arguments that financial support is insufficient to outrage over a campaign of forced sterilization of native Greenlandic women in decades past. It's this kind of thing the U.S. representatives were reportedly seeking to exploit, potentially to convince Greenlanders they'd be better treated by Washington. But analyst Peter Viggo Jakobsen with the Royal Danish Defence College believes it will actually create closer relations between Greenland and Denmark.
PETER VIGGO JAKOBSEN: It's very easy to spin to the disadvantage of the Americans. We can again show to the Greenlanders that the Americans are doing something that they're not supposed to and that they actually don't want to do anything good for the Greenlanders. So it's actually a gift from the Danish perspective, even though the officials, of course, would never ever say that.
SCHULTZ: He says the situation has also benefited Greenlanders. Within hours of the story breaking, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen rushed to apologize for the forced sterilization program. Jakobsen believes the names of the three alleged U.S. representatives will likely be kept quiet to avoid a potentially embarrassing situation for the White House.
JAKOBSEN: If it stops now, then we can keep it at that, and we haven't made anyone in the Trump administration angry. So it's about achieving what we want but without offending the Americans unnecessarily and without creating any further diplomatic crises because we've had plenty of that.
SCHULTZ: He believes relations with the U.S. are so sensitive that now Denmark hopes the potential scandal, along with any wannabe influencers who might be in Greenland, will just go away.
For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz.
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