After the Greenland controversy:

What many initially treated as a joke may cause a rift in U.S.-Denmark relations. President Donald Trump’s peculiar offer to buy Greenland from Denmark has caused an unexpected controversy. Trump showed that the news report was no joke when he cancelled a long-planned state visit and called Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s comments “nasty.” Trump’s actions prompted uproar and surprise in the small Kingdom of Denmark. After all, Denmark considers itself a devoted ally and has followed U.S. foreign policy through thick and thin over the last three decades.

This applies in no small measure to the broader Middle East region, where Danish military forces have contributed to all major U.S.-led wars and interventions since 1991. Recently, the U.S. has asked Denmark to contribute to the U.S.-led forces in Syria’s Northeast and to a naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz. Will Denmark now change course, and decline U.S. requests for the first time in 30 years?

Read more: Through think and thin: Will danish military engagements with the U.S. endure in the Middle East?