Denmark PM says ‘you cannot spy against an ally’ following reports of US spying on Greenland

Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Friday that ‘you cannot spy against an ally’ in response to reports that the U.S. was gathering intelligence on Greenland, as U.S. President Donald Trump has continued to suggest purchasing the Arctic island.

‘Cooperation about defense and deterrence and security in the northern part of Europe is getting more and more important,’ Frederiksen told The Associated Press. ‘Of course, you cannot spy against an ally.’

Frederiksen made the comments as Denmark and Greenland push back on Trump’s desire to acquire the autonomous Danish territory, stressing that it is not for sale. Trump, however, has not ruled out taking it by military force despite Denmark being a NATO ally.

‘I don’t rule it out. I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything,’ Trump said earlier this week during an interview on NBC News’ ‘Meet the Press.’ 

‘We need Greenland very badly. Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of and we’ll cherish them and all of that, but we need that for international security,’ he added.

The Danish prime minister’s statement on Friday came the day after Denmark summoned the top American diplomat in the country for an explanation to a report from The Wall Street Journal about several high-ranking officials under the U.S. director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, directing intelligence agency heads to collect information on Greenland’s independence movement and views about U.S. resource extraction on the island.

Acting head of the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, Jennifer Hall Godfrey, met with Danish diplomat Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen at the Danish Foreign Ministry, although details of the meeting were not disclosed.

Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told Greenland newspaper Sermitsiaq that the reports of U.S. espionage are unacceptable and disrespectful. 

Nielsen said last month that Greenland ‘will never, ever be a piece of property that can be bought by just anyone’ and that ‘the talks from the United States have not been respectful.’

Gabbard’s office released a statement saying she had made three ‘criminal’ referrals to the U.S. Justice Department over intelligence community leaks in response to the report from The Wall Street Journal, which cited two sources familiar with the matter.

‘The Wall Street Journal should be ashamed of aiding deep state actors who seek to undermine the President by politicizing and leaking classified information,’ Gabbard said. ‘They are breaking the law and undermining our nation’s security and democracy. Those who leak classified information will be found and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.