Danish election produces inconclusive result that leaves prime minister’s future unclear

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s election Tuesday ended in an inconclusive result that left the prime minister’s future unclear, after a campaign that focused on bread-and-butter issues rather than her handling of the crisis over U.S. President Donald Trump ’s ambitions toward Greenland.

Official results showed that Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s center-left Social Democrats lost ground compared with the last election in 2022, as did her two partners in the outgoing government.

Neither left-leaning nor right-leaning blocs won a majority in parliament. That left experienced Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, a former prime minister, in the role of kingmaker.

His centrist Moderate party, with 14 lawmakers in the 179-seat parliament, is in a position to determine whether Frederiksen can serve a third term at the helm of the European Union and NATO country.

Frederiksen said that she is ready to stay on as prime minister. “The world is unsettled. There are strong winds around us,” she said. "Denmark needs a stable government, a competent government. We are ready to take the lead.”

Løkke Rasmussen called on rivals on the left and right to climb down from some of the positions they staked out in the campaign, and “come and play with us.”

Denmark “is a small country of 6 million people in a world of 8 billion, which is in upheaval — and there is war in Iran, and there is war in Ukraine,” he said. He argued that “We are one tribe. We must come together. We must not be divided.”

But Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, the best-placed center-right challenger to Frederiksen, made clear that he and his Liberal party don't intend to go into government with her Social Democrats again.

The Social Democrats remained the biggest single party by some distance, but with 21.9% of the vote — well below the 27.5% they took in the 2022 election.

The 48-year-old Frederiksen is known for strong support of Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion and for a restrictive approach to migration — continuing what has become a tradition in Danish politics.

Frederiksen called the election in February, several months before she had to. She apparently hoped that her resolute image in the standoff over Trump’s push for control of Greenland, rallying European allies behind Denmark, would help her with voters.

Her support had previously waned as the cost of living rose, something that, along with pensions and a potential wealth tax, has been a prominent campaign issue.

No single party had been expected to come anywhere near winning a majority. Denmark’s system of proportional representation typically produces coalition governments, traditionally made up of several parties from either the “red bloc” on the left or the “blue bloc” on the right, after weeks of negotiations.

Frederiksen’s outgoing administration was the first in decades to straddle the left-right divide.

Social Democrat lawmaker Morten Klessen said the outgoing government had performed well, but that “there’s been a lot of trouble in Europe and I think our government has had a lot of focus about Ukraine and I think we have lost a little bit in domestic votes for that.” He argued that “we need Mette Frederiksen in Europe for solidarity.”

Frederiksen herself said she had hoped for a better result, but it was normal for a party seeking a third term to lose ground. She compared Tuesday's result with the 25.9% of the vote her party took in 2019, when she became prime minister.

“I have been in charge of this wonderful country for nearly seven years,” she said. “We have weathered the pandemic; we have had to deal with war. We have been threatened by the American president, and in those nearly seven years, we have seen a four percent decline.”

Greenland, which took up much of the government’s energy in recent months, wasn’t a significant issue in the campaign because there is broad agreement on its place in the kingdom.

Frederiksen warned in January that an American takeover of Greenland would amount to the end of NATO. But the crisis has simmered down, at least for now.

After Trump backed down on threats to impose tariffs on Denmark and other European countries that opposed the U.S. taking control of the vast Arctic island, the U.S., Denmark and Greenland started technical talks on an Arctic security deal.

Denmark’s single-chamber parliament, the Folketing, is elected for a four-year term. Lawmakers from Denmark hold 175 of its seats, while two each go to representatives from thinly populated Greenland and the kingdom’s other semiautonomous territory, the Faroe Islands.

More than 4.3 million people were eligible to vote.

Moulson reported from Berlin.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks to members of her Social Democratic Party in the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen, Denmark, after the General Election on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks to members of her Social Democratic Party in the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen, Denmark, after the General Election on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, center, leader of the Moderates, arrives at the party's election party for the 2026 Parliamentary Election at Pakhus 11, in the Oesterbro area of Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Rasmus Flindt Pedersen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, center, leader of the Moderates, arrives at the party's election party for the 2026 Parliamentary Election at Pakhus 11, in the Oesterbro area of Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Rasmus Flindt Pedersen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks to members of her Social Democratic Party in the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen, Denmark, after the General Election on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Members of the conservative liberal Venstre party react after the General Election in the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Leader of the Conservative People's Party, Mona Juul, arrives at an election party after the parliamentary election at Tietgen's House, in Copenhagen, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Claus Bech/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Lars Loekke Rasmussen, Denmark's Minister of Foreign Affairs and leader of the Moderates, casts his vote in the parliamentary election, in Graested, Denmark, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Keld Navntoft/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Chairman of Liberal Alliance Alex Vanopslagh speaks at the election party after the parliamentary elections, at Moltkes Palae, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Nils Meilvang/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Denmark's Prime Minister and The Social Democrats' leader Mette Frederiksen meets Greenlandic voters on election day in Aalborg, Denmark, Tuesday March 24, 2026. (Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Ballots will be sorted at the end of the general election in Aalborg, Denmark, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Danish Prime Minister and Leader of the Social Democrats Mette Frederiksen meets voters at a rally in her support in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, during the general election. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Jacob Engel Schmidt from the Moderates reacts to the first exit poll during the Danish election for the parliament in Copenhagen, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Rasmus Flindt Pedersen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Members of The Social Democrats react to the first exit poll during the Danish election for the parliament in Copenhagen, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Leader of the Moderates Lars Loekke Rasmussen, center left, and leader of the Danish People's Party Morten Messerschmidt , center, right, speak during TV2's party leader debate 'The Last Answer' in the Common Hall at Christiansborg, in Copenhagen, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

A person exits a polling booth at a polling station at City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, during the general election. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

A man casts a ballot at a polling station at City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, during the general election. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

A woman holds a ballot at a polling station at City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, during the general election. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

People line up to receive their ballots at a polling station at City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, during the general election. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

FILE - Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen arrives for the EU summit in Brussels, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)

FILE - Denmark's Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of European Union defense ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Harry Nakos, File)

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, center, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, right, and Pia Olsen Dyhr, left, attend the party leader debate Democracy's Evening on DR1 at the Concert Hall, DR City in Copenhagen, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, left, and Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, right, attend the party leader debate Democracy's Evening on DR1 at the Concert Hall, DR City in Copenhagen, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. (AP) — In a career-worst scoreless slump, Christian Pulisic is confident goals will come for him at the World Cup.

“I’ve had this happen before in my career," he said Saturday, a day before the U.S. faces Senegal in the Americans’ next-to-last warmup match. "There’s difficult times and then sometimes one will bounce off your knee and go in and then it seems like everything goes in after that.”

Pulisic had 10 goals in his first 15 matches for AC Milan this season but went scoreless in 19 games after Dec. 28. He has has gone eight U.S. matches without a goal since November 2024.

“He is going to score in World Cup. Yes, I really trust in that,” coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “He has very good attitude, very good commitment. He’s trying so hard to get his best level and I think he will achieve it for sure.”

A 27-year-old attacker from Hershey, Pennsylvania, Pulisic has 32 goals in 84 international appearances. His goal in the 1-0 win over Iran at the 2022 World Cup advanced the Americans to the round of 16.

He has the most international experience among the 26 players on the U.S. roster and is the lone holdover from group that played in the 2017 loss at Trinidad and Tobago, which ended the Americans' streak of seven straight World Cup appearances. Pulisic is among 13 players returning from the 2022 roster.

“Guys have just gotten a lot more experience at club level, international level," Pulisic said. “Going through that World Cup as a team, going through the really good performances and getting through the group and then having a tough loss against a big team, it all helps you grow. It all helps you learn.”

At the 2022 World Cup, Pulisic was injured while scoring against Iran, then returned for the 3-1 loss to the Netherlands in the round of 16.

“Most of the guys are going to go into this World Cup a lot — yeah, just a bit more relaxed, ready for these big moments," he said. "Every game and every big moment just feels just a little bit easier and you feel a little more comfortable going into it.”

Milan finished the Serie A season with two wins in its last eight games, wasting a lead on the final day and missing Champions League qualification. Coach Massimiliano Allegri and CEO Giorgio Furlani were fired.

“I don’t try to place blame or figure out the problems,” Pulisic said. “There are moments where I could have done a lot better and it was a difficult time for our team. It was a difficult time for me, and that’s what it comes down to. I haven’t changed the way I train, the way that I prepare, the way that I continue to move forward and try to improve every day. I’m still doing that every day and that's why I can keep my head high. Obviously, I’m disappointed but now I have to look forward on what’s in front of me.”

Sunday's game against 14th-ranked Senegal and a June 6 friendly against No. 10 Germany will be the last prep matches for the 16th-ranked Americans before their World Cup opener against No. 40 Paraguay on June 12. Defender Chris Richards, recovering from two torn ankle ligaments, won’t play Sunday.

“I’m sure we’re going to test a couple things, move some guys around,” Pulisic said. “Maybe it won’t look exactly as it will in the games.”

When the Americans last gathered in March, they lost 5-2 to Belgium and 2-0 to Portugal.

“Just getting a little bit of rhythm and a good feeling with the team going into the tournament,” Pulisic said. “These are two really strong opponents, so we have a great opportunity to test ourselves going into the World Cup. Obviously, we want to get good results, but most importantly, just feeling confident.”

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Forward Christian Pulisic of the United States men's national soccer team is presented during the announcement of the team roster on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in New York City, ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

FILE - United States' Christian Pulisic dribbles during a CONCACAF Nations League championship soccer match between Mexico and the United States, Sunday, March 24, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)