Danish foreign minister becomes kingmaker after Trump standoff

Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has seized the moment of geopolitical uncertainty. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Denmark’s headstrong Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen holds the keys to deciding who becomes the Nordic nation’s next prime minister. 

His pivotal position following March 24’s general election comes as the direct result of taking on Mr Donald Trump over Greenland. The 61-year-old leader of the centrist Moderates has emerged as the ultimate kingmaker in the country’s most fractured election in decades, buoyed by a surge in support after his combative approach to Washington during the Greenland crisis in January. 

With neither of the traditional blocs – to the left and the right of the political centre – securing a majority in March 24’s vote, the former prime minister now holds the balance of power. 

Mr Rasmussen has recast himself as a dealmaker-in-chief with a clear message to coalition partners Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen: Denmark needs cooperation, not ideological trench warfare. Ms Frederiksen, a Social Democrat, and Mr Poulsen, a Liberal, have governed alongside Mr Rasmussen in a rare cross-bloc coalition since 2022, but reverted to more traditional left-right lines on the campaign trail.

“When the world becomes harsh and when Trump builds tariff walls, then we must train our muscles to be able to jump over,” Mr Rasmussen said on election night. “We are a small tribe. We must unite. We must not be divided. We must not be red. We must not be blue.” 

Mr Rasmussen has seized the moment of geopolitical uncertainty.