MILAN (AP) — Denmark's athletes walking into the opening ceremony at the Olympics led Eurosport broadcaster Davide Livermore to highlight an upcoming men's hockey game.
“The big crunch derby on Valentine’s Day in the ice hockey rink, given all that’s happening in Greenland at the moment, is the USA against Denmark,” Livermore said. “The Greenland Derby, as no one’s calling it just yet.”
U.S. President Donald Trump's rhetoric in recent weeks about taking control of Greenland has stirred up national pride in Denmark, which oversees the semiautonomous island. That the teams just happen to face off at the Milan Cortina Olympics is no extra motivation to the players, but it is a chance for them to ride a wave of patriotism as significant underdogs.
“I think we’re just going out there to try to win a hockey game," former NHL forward Alexander True said. “We’re not thinking too much about anything other than the hockey game.”
To many back home, it may mean more than a hockey game.
Onlookers and fans seem more tuned in to the geopolitical story line than members of the national team. Last month, thousands marched in support of Greenland, and hundreds of military veterans waved Danish flags at a silent protest in the capital city of Copenhagen.
“Politics and all the stuff going on in the world is not something we’re focused on right now,” forward Nicklas Jensen said. “But of course playing against the U.S is special. It’s arguably the best team on the planet they put together, so it’s going to be a tough challenge.”
But it's a challenge Jensen and his teammates hope is also an opportunity to show how far the small country of 6 million people has come in hockey. Denmark was in the second-tier B division until 2003 and had not qualified for the Olympics until four years ago in Beijing.
Now Denmark is at the Games for a second time in a row, a result of a pipeline of players making it to the NHL and inspiring others. Frans Nielsen led the way to the NHL and was followed by the likes of Jannik Hansen, Lars Eller, Frederik Andersen and Nikolaj Ehlers.
“It’s been a long process, but we have been and we keep producing some top-level talent out of the small pool of players that we have,” defenseman Oliver Lauridsen said. “I think the fact that we have been able to perform on the biggest stage with the national team is also helping to foster the next generation of hockey players.”
Morten Poulsen, 37, is Denmark's oldest player at the Olympics, and he has seen the growth firsthand. Poulsen has been around so long he has played with some of his younger teammates' fathers and older brothers.
“I’ve known these guys from a very, very young age and seen all the sacrifices, all the hard work they’ve been doing to be such a great success, both for themselves but especially from the nation, too,” Poulsen said. “The hockey country of Denmark has really gathered a lot from a lot of people that’s shown the way for a lot of years now.”
The most tangible evidence of the growth came last spring when Denmark stunned Canada — with three-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Sidney Crosby and Macklin Celebrini — on home ice in the quarterfinals at the world championships. Even losing in the bronze-medal game, fourth place was highest finish at any tournament in the national team's history.
“Now we’re actually a team that’s competing for some fun games in those tournaments,” Jensen said. “It’s great steps for the whole country, and it gives good belief and it’s really cool to be a part of.”
With the NHL's best back at the Olympics for the first time since 2014, it's hard to imagine Denmark matching or topping what it did at worlds. The Danes have the longest odds of winning their group that includes the U.S., Germany and Latvia at 33-1. They are tied for the third-longest shot of winning it all in Milan at 300-1 on BetMGM Sportsbook.
Rather than feel intimidated, True said he and his teammates feel like they have nothing to lose and being such an underdog “makes us play a little more free and not grip the stick too much.” The task being so tall is nothing new and actually something players are embracing.
“Might go into every game as underdogs, but that’s what we love,” Jensen said. “We love to try to surprise. We have a very proud, strong group that’s really looking forward to this tournament.”
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
FILE - Denmark's Nikolaj Ehlers celebrates after scoring the winning goal in a quarterfinal game between Canada and Denmark at the hockey world championships, May 22, 2025, in Herning, Denmark. (Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
FILE - Denmark players celebrate after their 2-1 win in a quarterfinal game between Canada and Denmark at the hockey world championships, May 22, 2025, in Herning, Denmark. (Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
FILE - Denmark's Nick Olesen (95) celebrates with teammates after scoring the winning goal in a quarterfinal game between Canada and Denmark at the hockey world championships, May 22, 2025, in Herning, Denmark. (Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
HELSINGBORG, Sweden (AP) — NATO allies and defense officials expressed bewilderment Friday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would send 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland just weeks after ordering the same number of forces pulled out of Europe.
The apparent change of mind came after weeks of statements from Trump and his administration about reducing — not increasing — the U.S. military footprint in Europe. Trump's initial order set off a flurry of action among military commanders and left allies already doubtful about America's commitment to Europe's security to ponder what forces they might have to backfill on NATO's eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops, and U.S. officials confirmed about 4,000 service members were no longer rotating into Poland from Germany. The dispatch to Germany of U.S. personnel trained to fire long-range missiles was also halted.
But in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said he would now send "an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland,” citing his strong ties with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom Trump endorsed in elections last year.
“It is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate,” Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told reporters Friday at a meeting she was hosting of her NATO counterparts, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Ministers from the Netherlands and Norway were sanguine about Trump’s latest move, as was Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže, who said allies knew the U.S. troop “posture was being reconsidered, and now there is no change of posture. For now.”
U.S. defense officials also expressed confusion. “We just spent the better part of two weeks reacting to the first announcement. We don’t know what this means either,” said one of two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.
But Rubio said Washington’s allies understand that changes in the U.S. troop presence in Europe will come as the Trump administration reevaluates its force needs. “I think there’s a broad recognition that there are going to be eventually less U.S. troops in Europe than there has historically been for a variety of reasons,” he said.
The latest surprise came despite a U.S. pledge to coordinate troop deployments, including one from NATO’s top military officer, U.S. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, on Wednesday.
Trump's initial announcement that he would withdraw troops came as he fumed over remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said that the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he called a lack of strategy in that war.
Trump told reporters that the U.S. would be cutting even more than 5,000 and also announced new tariffs on European cars. Germany is the continent’s biggest auto producer.
Rubio insisted that Trump’s decision “is not a punitive thing. It’s just something that’s ongoing.”
About 80,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Europe. The Pentagon is required to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment on the continent unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests.
The withdrawal of 5,000 troops might drop numbers below that limit.
But Trump's latest post suggests that troop numbers in Europe would not change. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski welcomed the decision to send more forces to his country, saying it ensures that “the presence of American troops in Poland will be maintained more or less at previous levels.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also welcomed the move. On Thursday, before Trump took to Truth Social again, Rutte had underlined that it was important for Europe to take care of its own security. “We have a process in place. This is normal business,” he told reporters.
At NATO headquarters in Brussels, meanwhile, U.S. officials briefed the allies on the Pentagon's aims for its commitments to the NATO Force Model, which involves contingency planning for Europe’s defense in the event of serious security concerns. It was widely expected that a further reduction of U.S. forces would be coming.
Asked whether any cuts were announced, Rutte said: “I’m afraid it’s much more complicated than that.” He said the procedure “is highly classified” and declined to give details.
Rubio played down concerns about a shift in U.S. force levels in Europe, saying: "Every country has to constantly reevaluate what their needs are, what their commitments are around the world, and how to properly structure that.”
Cook reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Emma Burrows in London contributed.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with journalists during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, front second left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, front left, speak with each other during a group photo at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte look at each other as they deliver a statement during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže speaks at the doorstep of the NATO foreign ministers' meeting at Sea U in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte deliver a statement during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks to media at the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives with his wife Jeanette at Malmo Airport, Friday, May 22, 2026, in Malmo-Sturup, Sweden, ahead of a NATO foreign ministers meeting. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, second from left, shakes hands with Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson, as he is greeted by King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, Queen Silvia of Sweden and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Maria Malmer Stenergard, right, before a dinner at Sofiero Castle in Helsingborg, Sweden, Thursday May 21 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard speaks to media at the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
