Dutch politics is struggling with attitude towards Trump’s antics

Foreign policy does not often play a leading role in The Hague, but the wild antics of the Trump administration led to tense reactions in the Binnenhof this week.

On Thursday, the parliamentary standing committee for Foreign Affairs will return from the Christmas recess for a debate on the American military actions in Venezuela, “the largest neighbor of the Kingdom”, as outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs David van Weel (VVD) wrote to the House of Representatives. And in the meantime, the conversation is already turning to the next geopolitical threat: the continued American ambition to annex Greenland.

Dutch politicians clearly had difficulty this week in taking a joint position against the imperialist language from Washington.

Last weekend, D66 leader Rob Jetten had taken a clear position in a long statement. Nicolás Maduro may have been a “cruel dictator”, Jetten said, but the American capture of the Venezuelan president is “at odds with international law” and “sets a dangerous precedent”.

By openly criticizing Washington, Jetten went a big step further than outgoing Prime Minister Schoof and Minister Van Weel, who did not want to go further than calling on “all parties” to adhere to international law. When Jetten was asked questions about this by journalists on Tuesday, he reiterated his position: “I have listened to just about every expert in this field in recent days and I have come to the same conclusion as they did.”

‘Don’t just look at principles’

Henri Bontenbal chose a completely different line on Tuesday: the pragmatic one. According to the CDA leader, the Netherlands “should not go alone […] principles,” but also at “the practical consequences” of overly open criticism of the Trump administration. Europe is dependent on the US to form a credible stabilization force in Ukraine if a truce is reached there. Last Tuesday a ‘coalition of the willing‘ about this in Paris. “Then you should not use very big words to make Ukraine less safe,” Bontenbal said.

That same day, Bontenbal’s realpolitik again seemed outdated and the Netherlands had to take a position on Washington again – this time because of Trump’s statements about Greenland. On the way in Airforce One, President Trump had again emphasized to journalists that the US wants to annex the Arctic region – part of the Kingdom of Denmark – at all costs. Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller subsequently refused to rule out the deployment of American troops to CNN, which the White House later officially confirmed.

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This time, Europe took immediate action. In a joint statement, government leaders of six major countries (Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain and Poland) drew a line in the snow. “Greenland belongs to its people,” they wrote. “It is up to Denmark and Greenland, and them alone, to make decisions about Denmark and Greenland.”

Prime Minister Schoof’s signature was not under the statement – possibly a sign of the Netherlands’ loss of status since he took office. However, Minister Van Weel left no doubt that The Hague fully supports the statement of the six. “Denmark and Greenland must decide,” he wrote on X. “The Netherlands fully supports our Danish friends.”

CDA foreign spokesperson Derk Boswijk announced via X on Tuesday that he would call on the government to support Denmark as much as possible. The same day, Boswijk tweeted a photo with Danish ambassador Ulf Melgaard, with whom he had had a conversation about “the importance of Arctic security and Greenland.”

US Coast Guard Collaboration

Boswijk’s call will receive approval in the House of Representatives and from the cabinet, but the Dutch position vis-à-vis the US is far from crystallized. Since Trump took office, the VVD has had difficulty distancing itself from its traditional pro-Atlantic position and its . Possible participation of JA21 in a coalition will further steer the cabinet towards Washington: JA21 leader Joost Eerdmans has often shown that he sympathizes with the Trump administration.

In the meantime, transatlantic cooperation is rapidly eroding – including between The Hague and Washington. , Minister of Defense Ruben Brekelmans (VVD) announced on Tuesday during a visit to the Antilles. In recent decades, the Dutch Navy has worked closely with the American Coast Guard to intercept drug transports at sea.

That’s really up to the US to do that, we’re not part of that

Now that the US has started bombing suspected speedboats, causing around a hundred casualties, the Netherlands is finding it difficult to continue the joint operation. Brekelmans did choose cautious words to announce the end of the collaboration. The US had chosen a different “route”, Brekelmans told the NOS (liquidating suspected drug smugglers without trial): “That is really up to them to do that, we are not part of that.”

MPs will ask questions on Thursday about the end of this cooperation with the US. The consequences of the shifting world order will also be discussed during the formation. To keep the US on board, European NATO countries agreed last summer to a dramatic increase in defense spending from 2 to 3.5 percent of NATO member states’ GDP. In the coming weeks, Jetten, Bontenbal and VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz must agree on where the approximately 15 billion euros that this will cost should come from.

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