If you can remember back a couple of months before this Iran stuff started, things were different.
Back to a quieter, simpler time, when the heaviest military action anyone was worried about breaking out was the muttered threats from the French, promising to throw their featherweight into the fray to defend Greenland from an American invasion.
Scary stuff. Scary times.
It gave all the blustering, posturing bloviates on the continent a chance to dust their tough guy rhetoric off, and sniff in European disdain as they farted in Donald Trump's general direction.
Greenland, the circled snobs holding hands with fingers crossed insisted, was not for sale or conquering.
Trump would have to go through them first (please don't please don't please don't).
One of the biggest talkers was the two-term Danish Prime Minister herself, Mette Frederiksen. The head of the left-leaning Social Democrats had been 'flailing' in the polls up until the Greenland brouhaha exploded, thanks to some pretty bone-headed but very leftist decisions that had royally irritated her fellow Danes.
...However, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and growing uncertainty over U.S. security guarantees caused her to shift. She dropped Denmark's opposition to collective EU debt, backed joint defence procurement and last year moved away from the other members of the fiscally conservative "Frugal Four", saying European unity had become a security necessity.
One of the most damaging episodes for Frederiksen came during the Covid-19 pandemic, when her government in 2020 ordered Denmark's entire mink population culled over fears they could carry the virus.
A public inquiry later concluded that the move lacked a legal basis, and that Frederiksen and her government "grossly misled" the public, though it also found she had not personally been aware that she overstepped her authority.
The mink scandal was not an isolated episode. Her government's decision to abolish a public holiday to help finance increased defence spending angered workers across the country.
Meanwhile, she has been accused of alienating political partners with a top-down leadership style, and for forming a coalition with the centre-right despite a 2022 campaign promise of left-leaning majority government.
She has sharply curbed immigration, particularly from non-Western nations, curbing the momentum of far-right rivals seeking to capitalise on discontent with asylum policies but driving away traditional allies on the left.
"People are really tired of her. She dominates everything in Danish politics, yet she has changed her mind on everything, from being the most Eurosceptic prime minister Denmark has ever had, to one of its most pro-European. That wears enormously on voters' trust," said Noa Redington, a political analyst.
Sensing that the country was well on its way to being over her and her chance of a third term was rapidly fading, Frederiksen saw an opportunity in Trump's pugnacious pursuit of Greenland and decided to play hardball. The subsequent jump in the polls was enough to give her hope she could pull enough votes to eke out a victory.
...Just months ago, Ms Frederiksen was flailing in national polls.
Then came Mr Trump's blustering diplomatic offensive, in which he threatened to take Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, "the easy way or the hard way".
When Ms Frederiksen pushed back against a barrage of belittling from the US president, her polling jumped, almost overnight.
Her Social Democrats party went from a historic low of 16 per cent in the polls to about 21 per cent which, in the complex Danish political system, could be enough for her to cling to power.
With her numbers on the rise, she called a snap election to be held this week.
Ms Frederiksen is hoping to ride a wave of anti-Trump sentiment to victory, following a similar electoral playbook to Prime Minister Mark Carney in Canada and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Just like Mark Carney and Anthony Albanese did?
Oh, what a roster of excellence those two have turned out to form.
Last night was when Danish voters went to the polls to see if PM Frederiksen's gamble would pay off, just like those two mediocrities had.
And...SPLAT
🇩🇰 Denmark's left bloc headed by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen have taken an early lead in the general election but failed to secure a majority, exit polls showed, with Frederiksen's Social Democrats posting their weakest showing in 125 years.
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) March 25, 2026
➡️ https://t.co/vbxomim1qL pic.twitter.com/uAnal0uNQm
When the 'failed to secure a majority' equates to 'worst election results since 1903,' welp. That's an epic faceplant, especially when you thought you were momentarily on an upswing and bet the farm.
Excuses did fly.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen suffered an election setback as her left-leaning bloc appeared to have fallen short of winning enough votes to form a government, following a campaign clouded by U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland.
Frederiksen’s Social Democrats received the most votes and were seen winning 38 seats in Denmark’s 179-seat parliament, results published early Wednesday showed, compared with 50 seats four years earlier. It reportedly marks the party’s worst election result since 1903.
The left-leaning grouping, or “red bloc,” was seen taking 84 seats, six short of the 90 required for a majority, while the right-leaning group, or “blue bloc,” secured 77 seats.
Denmark’s Frederiksen told supporters in Copenhagen that forming a government would be “difficult” and sought to downplay the decline in her party’s popularity after several external shocks.
“We’ve had to deal with war, we’ve been threatened by the American president and in those almost seven years we’ve gone down 4 percentage points, I think that’s okay,” Frederiksen said, according to Reuters.
And it turns out that in those last weeks of the campaign, Greenland was never mentioned. It ultimately proved to be a non-factor in the face of the concerns voters across Europe have with issues in their own countries - taxes, energy costs, etc.
...Despite the prime minister's ascent to global stardom, the issue of Greenland and Mr Trump has barely registered in the Danish election campaign.
In the final leader's debate last week, Greenland wasn't mentioned.
Instead, issues like accessible drinking water, agriculture, the environment and taxes have been the main talking points.
And, ultimately, PM Frederiksen is out of a job. She marched over to the Danish Royal Palace to tender her resignation to the king, as is traditional. She has said she is ready to resume the post should the coalition talks, which promise to be truly challenging as none of the parties agree and are already laying out what they won't do, wind up as a left-leaning coalition that accepts her.
There does not seem to be a welcoming consensus for her return to power in the center-right parties, who will be the ones determining the direction of the coalition. There is also opposition to working with Frederiksen's party in any coalition.
...Frederiksen will continue as a caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed, and remains one of the frontrunners to secure the top role once again.
The Moderates Party of Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen could be kingmakers in coalition talks and as Denmark's biggest party, Frederiksen could still return for a third term as prime minister.
However, Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen has said that he and his Liberal party do not intend to go into government with Frederiksen 's Social Democrats again.
This is almost guaranteed to be a mess.
What Frederiksen also has to contend with in her quest for that third term is the same surge in 'right-wing' representation that recently took French, German, and Slovenian elections by storm. Without a clear majority in any part of the traditional bloc, the right-wing party becomes a player they cannot ignore.
🇩🇰 The right-wing Danish People's Party just tripled its vote share in Tuesday's election, campaigning on a radical remigration platform.
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 25, 2026
With 16 seats in the new parliament, up from five, it becomes a significant force, especially as neither traditional bloc can reach a… pic.twitter.com/36jmKnqxLR
...it becomes a significant force, especially as neither traditional bloc can reach a majority.
Leader @MrMesserschmidt told supporters, "We're making great progress. The Danish People's Party is back!"
Tabletop issues. Every time.
Frederiksen’s Tough Stance on Trump Fails to Sway Danish Voters
— Washington Eye (@washington_EY) March 25, 2026
Despite global praise for defending Greenland, Denmark’s PM faces historic election losses, showing domestic issues outweighed international posturing at the ballot box #WashingtonEye pic.twitter.com/P3KnZn09Hm
And immigration was smack in the middle of it, fueling the party's populist rise as it appealed to voters who believed that 'Denmark must remain Danish.'
...The result sets the stage for difficult coalition negotiations, with no clear path to government without cross-bloc cooperation. Voter turnout was high at 83.7 percent.
The most notable result of the election came from the Danish People’s Party, which won 9.1 percent of the vote and 16 seats, up from just five in the last parliament. The party campaigned on one of the most hardline immigration platforms in Europe, centered on mass repatriation and a sweeping reversal of decades of immigration policy.
Its party leader, Morten Messerschmidt, told supporters on Tuesday, “We are making massive progress. The Danish People’s Party is back!”
In its manifesto, the party argued that Denmark must “remain Danish” and warned that immigration from the Middle East and North Africa had led to crime, parallel societies, and cultural change. It claimed such migration had brought “ghettoization, ethnic conflicts, radicalization, clan culture, honor-related crimes, social control, persecution of Jews and sexual minorities, infiltration of public authorities, Islamic censorship and gender segregation.”
There are three Frederiksen-proposed agenda items at stake that buck public sentiment (and voters seem to have rejected last night), which now hang in the balance as attempts to form a coalition begin.
A controversial wealth tax on the rich, lifting a four-decade ban on nuclear power and the future of wind-farm developer Orsted A/S are all in the spotlight in Denmark’s national election on Tuesday.
...Public sentiment on nuclear power, banned in Denmark since 1985, has shifted dramatically in recent years, with a majority of Danes now favoring the use of the energy source. The political parties remain split on the issue, but parliament has set up a commission to evaluate its potential role in Denmark’s energy supply. The conclusion is expected shortly after a new government convenes following the election.
The Social Democrats have said they prefer to continue the focus on renewable energy, where Denmark has been a pioneer and has some of the industry’s largest companies, including Orsted and wind turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems A/S.
...Frederiksen is betting that a controversial proposal to reinstate a wealth tax will resonate with voters and help secure another term. The proposed 0.5% levy on fortunes exceeding 25 million kroner ($3.9 million) is expected to raise about 6 billion kroner — or less than 0.5% of annual tax revenue based on Bloomberg calculations — from roughly 20,000 Danes, with the proceeds earmarked for smaller class sizes in primary schools.
...Public ownership of wind-farm developer Orsted has been a political hot potato in Denmark since Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a stake in 2014 and and helped it shore up its balance sheet after a series of failed bets in the natural gas market. Goldman exited the investment in 2017.
There is also a conflict over continued support for Ukraine to hammer out.
With the significant increase in right-wing representation and the liberals already on record refusing to work with Frederiksen, Denmark could well be on its way to a center-left or even center-right coalition if they manage to work one out at all, with Frederiksen's dream of that third term up in smoke.
Whatever the outcome, it's sure to be messy going, and the tug from another of Europe's rising right parties will be a factor.
