Move Over COVID: TDS is Here
Praise for Trump in Denmark will draw amazing criticism from the locals.
Stephen Helgesen | March 7, 2026
I recently wrote an article about the joint U.S./State of Israel attacks on Iran for my Danish audience under the headline: "Should we not be thanking Donald Trump?" I figured on getting a few mixed responses, but I wasn't prepared for the level of negativity that I got back from the Danes.
The responses ranged from the "steadfastly opposed" (on legal grounds) to the isolationist ones that basically said, "It's none of the U.S.'s business and none of our (Denmark's) business either." There were those that said: "It's just another example of the (American) dictator at work" and my favorite self-serving one was: "And now our gas prices are going up. Thanks a lot, Donald Trump."
I suppose I should have been prepared for the onslaught of critical comments given the level of vitriol and downright hatred of Donald Trump by many normally calm, reserved Danes, but I can admit that I was a little taken aback. I can only surmise that "Trump Derangement Syndrome" (TDS) has overtaken COVID now as the world's pandemic and it has made its way to Scandinavia.
I must confess that this situation (with my article) is a wake-up call of sorts for me when it comes to the Danes's deep-seated feelings about President Trump. Many of my friends who know me and who know America and Americans well have been unwilling to "throw America under the bus," but those who have only a tangential relationship to the U.S. or have little first-hand knowledge are now ratcheting up their criticism to the point where they are sounding like American Democrats/progressives.
Over the past year, I have watched and listened, carefully, to prominent and not-so-prominent Danes speak about America, Americans, MAGA Republicans and Donald Trump. I have been giving talks around the country on the state of the U.S., our politics and on the current administration, and at each event I could feel the temperature of the audience rising. Their resentment of being allied with America and their anger with Donald Trump was now palpable and has, in my opinion, reached the point where I can say with confidence that TDS has now officially become America's greatest export -- and we didn't need an accident in a Chinese lab in Wuhan to make it happen.
TDS is the new COVID.
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https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/03/move_over_covid_tds_is_here.html
