COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The United States is using its economic power to “assert its will” and threaten friends and foes militarily, Denmark’s intelligence agency said in a new report.
Denmark’s Defense Intelligence Agency said in its latest annual assessment that Washington has become more assertive under the Trump administration, while China and Russia also seek to reduce the influence of the West, especially the United States.
Perhaps most sensitive to Denmark – a member of NATO and the European Union and an ally of the United States – is the growing competition among the Arctic powers. US President Donald Trump has said he would like to see Greenland – Denmark’s semi-autonomous and mineral-rich territory – become part of the United States, but the move is opposed by Russia and much of Europe.
“The strategic importance of the Arctic is rising as conflict between Russia and the West intensifies, and growing U.S. security and strategic concerns over the Arctic will further accelerate these developments,” the report released on Wednesday said.
The Trump administration last week released a new national security strategy that portrays European allies as weak and aims to reassert U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is concerned about NATO’s activities in the Arctic and will respond by strengthening its military capabilities in the polar region.
The findings and analysis in the report echo a range of recent concerns, particularly in Western Europe, about an increasingly go-it-alone approach by the United States, which has favored bilateral agreements and partnerships at the expense of multilateral alliances such as NATO during Trump’s second term.
“For many countries outside the West, a strategic agreement with China rather than the United States has become a viable option,” the report, written in Danish, reads. “China and Russia, along with other like-minded countries, are seeking to reduce the global influence of the West — and the United States in particular.”
“At the same time, there is growing uncertainty about how the United States will prioritize its resources in the future,” the report added. “This gives regional powers greater room for maneuver, allowing them to choose between the United States and China, or strike a balance between the two.”
The Trump administration has carried out a series of deadly attacks on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, raising concerns about respect for international law – part of a stepped-up pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump also refused to rule out deploying military forces in Greenland, where the United States already has military bases.
“The United States is using economic power, including the threat of high tariffs, to assert its will and is no longer ruling out the use of military force — even against allies,” the report said.
