Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has congratulated Donald Trump on winning the US election in a statement released on Wednesday morning.
"Congratulations to Donald Trump on being elected the next President of the United States. The United States is our most important ally. We must maintain the close cooperation between the U.S. and Denmark and continue to strengthen the transatlantic bond that has endured through generations,” Frederiksen said in the statement released by the Prime Minister's Office.
Trump has 267 electoral votes of the 270 needed to secure the presidency under the US electoral college system at the time of writing. The former president has declared victory despite no official confirmation from the Associated Press, but it appears a formality that he will secure the remaining electoral votes once results from the remaining states are received.
In the statement, Frederiksen said she hoped the partnership between the United States and Denmark on areas including defence would continue.
“I look forward to strengthening the defence cooperation between the United States and Denmark together with President-elect Trump. In a world in which Russia behaves more aggressively, increasingly supported by Iran and North Korea, there is a need for reinforcing global alliances,” she said.
“This is especially true in Ukraine where we need to continue our support for their fight for freedom. Furthermore, it would not be possible for Russia to continue the war in Ukraine without the help of China which is of grave concern. Our common security is at stake,” the PM continued.
Frederiksen also alluded to defence spending in Europe, something which Trump criticised as being insufficient in his previous term as president.
“A strong partnership must be based on a Europe that must be able to do more on its own and take greater responsibility for our own security. We need to speed up and invest even more in our collective defence,” Frederiksen said.
“It is necessary for ensuring peace and security in Europe, and for being a strong partner for the United States globally,” she added.
The Danish PM, who has been in office since 2019, crossed paths with Trump during his previous term as US president, most memorably when he floated the idea of the United States buying autonomous territory Greenland from Denmark ahead of a planned official visit to the country.
Frederiksen rejected the idea and called it “absurd”, before Trump cancelled the visit and later described the Danish PM’s comment as “nasty”, though he later appeared to soften his view.
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