Denmark considers us to be one of its closest allies. Many Danes now refuse to buy the United States
When Mette Vennegaard, a retired psychologist living north of Copenhagen, wanted to clean up the pantry for all American products, she wrote to Denmark’s largest candy and chocolate manufacturer, Toms Group, asking where the company sourced its almonds for its popular marzipan products.
Marzipan is a sweet paste made with almonds and is a popular chocolate filling and key ingredient in some of Denmark’s most popular desserts.
When the company replied that it supplies 80% of almonds from California, Vennegaard put the product on her “No Buy List.”
She then went further, posting a letter from the company in the Facebook group urging other Danes to announce clearly, too.
“I looked into ownership of a variety of different products,” she told CBC News. “If they were Americans, they wouldn’t go into the shopping basket.”
Boycott of American products
Vennegaard is part of a surge in Danes who are trying to cut or reduce the number of American products and services they use, a protest against U.S. President Donald Trump, especially his obsessive determination to occupy Greenland, part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Thousands of Danes join a Facebook group dedicated to sharing advice on how to avoid using American-made products, instead buying local products.
People post information about canceling travel to the United States or subscribing to U.S. streaming services.
Others are looking for shopping tips, such as a wonder whip made in the United States (a mayonnaise-like condiment), which, if so, is a suitable alternative.
While the boycott group is a grassroots movement, political experts say it has treaded in Denmark’s current sentiment, where nearly 6 million people feel alienated and even threatened by message transmission from the United States, which has previously considered one of its most powerful allies.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to annex the mineral-rich Greenland, promising its 56,000 residents Washington can make them rich. The president said in a marathon speech to the U.S. Congress earlier this month that the U.S. will understand “One way or another.”
US delegation takes back amid protests
Usha Vance, the wife of Vice President JD Vance, was supposed to visit Greenland this week to compete in cultural venues and dogs, but the trip was reduced after officials in the region called it a “provocation.”
Vance will now join her husband, and she will only visit Pituffik Space Base, a remote U.S. military device, which handles missile defense and space surveillance.
Although officials from Greenland and Denmark viewed the itinerary change as a victory, they remained deeply concerned about what Trump said and what he might intend to do.
As U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to take over Greenland, the country’s prime minister called the visit of the U.S. delegation a provocative and highly aggressive. Americans on the trip included National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Vice President’s wife Usha Vance.
“I am resisting products due to the way Trump is behaving, including positive treatment of Ukraine … and the threat to Greenland,” Vennegaard said.
“My grandchildren were told that there will be no more Coca-Cola, Priliges, American chocolate bars and visits to McDonald’s for the next four years.”
Vennegaard joined the boycott group in February and admitted that it was unfortunate to use Facebook, a California-based company, but she said it would be difficult to replace the scope of the platform.
No more Netflix or California wines
Bo Albertus is a principal, Bo Albertus, who lives outside the Denmark capital of Copenhagen, and helped establish the organization. He insisted that it was not about the Americans, but about the government they were elected.
He began boycotting his boycott in January, canceling subscriptions to Netflix, Disney, Apple TV, HBO and Amazon Prime. He signed up for the local Danish streaming service and dug out his old DVDs.
The California red wine that Albertus used in the past Friday night has now been replaced by Italian bottles.
He said he hasn’t found an alternative to his favorite barbecue sauce, but he just needs to live without it.
“There is no 100% boycott,” Alberts said in a telephone interview in Denmark. “But we are 92,000 people who choose how to use our money themselves.”
The conscious spending campaign has sparked renewed interest in Danish and European products.
Denmark’s largest supermarket operator, Salling Group, started tagging all its European products this month, after customers learned that some products were making certain products, a black star started this month.
In the Facebook group, there are posts expressing solidarity with some of Trump’s other goals. A published image shows the flags of Canada, Greenland and Denmark with the words “Side by side red and white”.
Trump has repeatedly stated that Canada should be the 51st state and his team’s remarks on Greenland continue to escalate.
Trump reiterated on Wednesday that the United States needs the strategic island for international security.
“I think we will do our best,” he told reporters. “We need Greenland, and the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark.”
Pressure is based on government
Trump, who has been fixed in Greenland for many years, said in his first term as president in 2019 that the United States is considering buying the territory.
When Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed the idea “absurd” he called her “hate” and canceled the scheduled visit to the country.
Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, a political science professor at the University of Copenhagen, said that despite Trump’s previous comments on Greenland, the Danish government was “somewhat surprised” that things were working in their way, and he believed the government had pressure to build the government to take a tougher stance.
“We Danes are patient people, but I think it’s gradually exhausted,” Rasmussen said in an interview with Zoom.
Denmark has been a staunch supporter of the United States in the past, with the Danish army fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq along with the U.S. forces.
Rasmussen said there is a feeling that the United States and Denmark are close allies and these countries know each other.
For many, this concept is now broken.
While Denmark does want to work with the United States for defense and security efforts, it is clear that “Greenland belongs to Greenlanders.”
Rasmussen said some Danish citizens are doing this through shopping habits as the administration takes a tougher stance against the Trump administration.
While Rasmussen said he hasn’t given up on his California Pinot Noir yet, he understands why others do.
“We love electric cars in this country, but we don’t really buy Tesla,” he said. “People are trying to make their own foreign policy. The only thing they can do is talk about it with each other or choose different products.”
