'Borgen' creator says fiction challenged by Trump's Greenland gambit

By Isabelle Yr Carlsson and Tom Little

The creator of the Danish political TV drama "Borgen", Adam Price, says U.S. President Donald Trump's wish to control Greenland has created an "absurd" reality that has made it more challenging to write political fiction.

Trump's refusal to rule out using military or economic power to take control of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, has caught many by surprise, including Price.

"When reality becomes absurd, like I think it has become in recent weeks when we are talking about the current situation with Greenland and Trump and Trump's demands, what are we to write?" Price said in an interview this week with Reuters.

"Because if I had pitched this as a new season of "Borgen", I think most people would say, like five or 10 years ago, that I was completely out of my mind and had lost my sense of reality," he said.

Price, 57, said he was concerned that what previously had been considered politically extreme or bizarre would increasingly be considered "normal" under Trump's presidency.

In fact, Price did anticipate the current international focus on Greenland in the latest season of his fictional series from 2022, in which the vast Arctic island makes a significant discovery of oil and becomes the centre of a power struggle between Denmark, Russia, China and the United States.

As in that last season of "Borgen", Trump's remarks have thrust Greenland into the global spotlight, reigniting a public debate about independence and the island's complicated relationship with Denmark, its former colonial power.

"Borgen", which in Danish means 'fortress' - a direct reference to the informal name for Denmark's parliament - was first aired in 2010 and tells a fictional story of Denmark's first female prime minister and her rise to power.

Price said one idea for a potential new season of "Borgen" could be to "make the EU sexy" in a dramatic way, as many viewers may find the European Union difficult to grasp.

"When you deal with politics that maybe on the surface seem more cold and not as emotional, you need to find topics that are really explosive when it comes to emotions," he said.