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(Bloomberg) — It’s been a while since Denmark has been the object of Donald Trump’s enduring obsession with Greenland and needing to remind the returning president repeatedly that the world’s largest island isn’t for sale. 

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It’s a fixation that borders on the farcical. Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, he threatened to levy tariffs on Denmark “at a very high level” and when goaded with a question, he declined to rule out the use of military force to get his prize. 

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For the property mogul turned politician, it is as it was back in 2019, a large real estate deal. In his first term, the fetishization of this self-ruling Arctic territory that’s part of Denmark was bewildering. Some thought it was a joke, a bit like Canada now hearing over and over again that it could become part of the US.

When he left office, the hope was that the unrequited attention would end. But Trump is back and his interest has intensified. His son, Donald Trump Jr., visited Greenland on a private one-day trip on Tuesday and had preemptively rejected speculation he was on a scouting mission. 

But then his father took to his social media platform to say “this is a deal that must happen.”

How to respond – or whether to simply ignore — the provocations poses a test for Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and for Europe’s most seasoned politicians, who have been bombarded by a series of pointed barbs, not just from Trump but also from Elon Musk.  

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The 47-year-old Frederiksen is one of a handful of European leaders — such as France’s Emmanuel Macron — who have some experience dealing with Trump’s diplomatic whims. She had been in power for only a couple of months when she stood up to him the first time over Greenland — and in a fit of pique he scrapped a state visit to Denmark.

Greenland has become a source of growing tension between the US and Denmark — allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — after Trump last month resurfaced a five-year-old idea of wanting to buy the territory. He stressed that US ownership and control of the island is an “absolute necessity” for national security.

When a reporter pressed Trump to rule out economic or military coercion to gain control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, Trump said, “I’m not gonna commit to that. No. It might be that you’ll have to do something.” He added: “We need Greenland for national security purposes.”

Greenland is home to a US base that’s used to detect missile threats and monitoring space, and the island’s vast stores of critical minerals have drawn interest from global powers including the US, Russia and China.

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Greenland, located strategically between the Arctic and the North Atlantic, was even the subject of a famous Danish drama series “Borgen” that explored how a female prime minister navigated all the competing interests.

Frederiksen, a Social Democrat and the youngest premier in Danish history, is known for her strict stance on immigration and harsh rhetoric against Russia. She spearheaded controversial moves including an order to cull 17 million mink during the pandemic. 

In response to Trump’s latest missives, Frederiksen has struck a conciliatory tone.

“It is positive that there is a growing American interest in what is happening in the North Atlantic and the Arctic region, because some of the tensions we see in other parts of the world are also starting to come to the Arctic,” she said to Danish broadcaster TV2. “But it will have to happen in a way that is respectful of the Greenlandic people.”

Last time she was in this position she had called his suggestion “absurd.” He called her “nasty.” This time, she’s gone with a different approach — racing to be among the first European leaders to speak with him after his election win.

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