In 2020, Nielsen was elected to succeed Niels Thomsen as chair of the
Demokraatit party (the Democrats). but lost the role after he withdrew his party from the government shortly afterwards. Nielsen has advocated for reducing reliance on Denmark's block grant by prioritising business development and
economic self-sufficiency in Greenland. On 27 August 2025, Nielsen, along with Danish Prime Minister
Mette Frederiksen, issued an official apology on behalf of the Danish and Greenlandic governments for
historic abuses against Greenlandic women, including forced contraception.
United States threats On 20 January 2025, Donald Trump began his
second term as
U.S. president. In March 2025, Nielsen condemned Trump's
threats to invade Greenland, stating that "We don't want to be Americans. No, we don't want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders. And we want our own independence in the future..." Nielsen said Trump will not "get" Greenland. Shortly before Vice President of the United States
JD Vance and his wife
Usha arrived to visit the
Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on 29 March 2025, a four-party coalition government was announced by Nielsen. He also showed his solidarity with Denmark in the face of the US threat, when went on an official visit with Frederiksen to meet with German Chancellor
Friedrich Merz and French president
Emmanuel Macron. The official Danish threat assessment published by the
Danish Defence Intelligence Service in 2025 for the first time mentioned the US as a threat to
national security, alongside Russia and China. Frederiksen reminded Trump that an attack on the Kingdom of Denmark is an attack on
NATO, and that all NATO members
are obligated to come to Denmark's defence. Greenland, as part of Denmark, is a member of NATO and therefore covered by the
collective security guarantee. , 13 January 2026 On 13 January 2026, ten days after US troops had
attacked Venezuela and captured Maduro and his wife, Nielsen and Danish prime minister
Mette Frederiksen said in a joint press conference that the US pressure campaign against Greenland was unacceptable, and that Greenland is not for sale. Nielsen emphasised that talk about buying another people shows a lack of respect. Nielsen said: In response to Nielsen stating that Greenland had no wish to become part of the US, Trump said in January 2026 that he did not know who the Greenlandic prime minister was, stating: "I disagree with them. I don't know who he is, don't know anything about him, but that's going to be a big problem". ==References==