Klaus was on an American base when Trump started talking about Greenland: 'Nothing to talk about'

Greenland (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/groenland)

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*Klaus was on American base when Trump began to threaten Greenland: 'Nothing, one talks about'*

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There is a long way from Washington to the field where a Danish soldier works, says Klaus Østergaard, who was deployed in South Korea.

Klaus Østergaard presents a certificate to an American pilot he worked with in connection with routine flights in the DMZ - the demilitarized zone between South Korea and North Korea. He was deployed in South Korea for the American-led UN mission for 12 months. (Photo: © private photo)

By

Katja Sønder Tuxen ( [email protected] ) 18 min. ago

Approximately 100 Danish soldiers may very well find themselves in a somewhat unusual situation right now, as they work on American military installations around the world while Trump threatens the realm.

But as long as there are no orders coming down from the Defense, the deployed soldiers will continue to perform their work and collaborate with American colleagues. Even if the American president says he does not rule out using the military against Greenland.

This is assessed by Alexander Høgsberg Tetzlaff, who is a military analyst at the Center for Military Studies and a major in the Army, and who himself has been deployed.

- As a soldier, one focuses on solving the task that has been assigned, together with the colleagues one works closely with from the USA, and with whom one may have a very good relationship, despite what happens on the political level.

- That's what I think the soldiers will do, until there comes another order from above, he says.

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Speak very little about politics

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This perception is entirely in line with what orlogskaptajn Klaus Østergaard experienced, when he was deployed for a year until June 2025 as a planning officer on the American-led UN mission, United Nations Command, in South Korea.

The base is the largest American army installation outside the USA, and on the secretariat where Klaus Østergaard was employed, about half of the 50 colleagues were Americans.

And even though Klaus Østergaard was there when Donald Trump, after the election, began to make threats about taking over Greenland, it was not something that was discussed over lunch.

- I did not experience that it affected my work with my American colleagues. One thing is what happens in Washington, and another thing is what happens among us out in the field, who are performing a task.

Klaus Østergaard was surprised by how little Americans spoke about politics.

- Americans generally do not talk about politics and therefore less about the issue of Greenland.

He believes that it is because American politics is increasingly heated, and they are increasingly polarized, so they do not want to bring it up on the job site.

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Focus on doing one's work

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Instead, one focuses on doing one's work.

- We must have a daily routine to function by working well together. We are dependent on each other, so that is the spirit we work together in.

Klaus Østergaard (on the right) in the process of inspecting one of the South Korean infantry divisions, which is positioned along the 250 km long border with North Korea. (Photo: © Private photo)

The American president has, after Klaus Østergaard has returned to Denmark, turned up the heat on his threats and now does not exclude the use of military force to take Greenland under American control.

In such a case, Danish soldiers risk being taken as prisoners of war, thinks orlogskaptajn Kenneth Øhlenschlæger Buhl.

- If it comes to the use of armed force from the USA against the Kingdom of Denmark, then the deployed soldiers technically speaking in that moment would be prisoners of war, who could risk being interned, he says.

This is not something Klaus Østergaard is familiar with – and he has difficulty imagining it happening. He therefore has no objection to traveling again – not even to American-led bases.

- What is decisive for me is the task, he says.

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