U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday there was “no going back” on his goal to control Greenland, refusing to rule out taking the Arctic island by force and rounding on allies as European leaders struggled to respond.
Trump’s ambition – spelled out in social media posts and mock-up AI image jis – to wrest sovereignty over Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark has threatened to blow apart the alliance that has underpinned Western security for decades.
It has also threatened to reignite a trade war with Europe that rattled markets and companies for months last year, though Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed back against what he called “hysteria” over Greenland.
“As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security. There can be no going back — On that, everyone agrees!” Trump said after speaking to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
To drive home the message, Trump posted an AI image of himself in Greenland, holding a U.S. flag. Another showed him speaking to leaders next to a map showing Canada and Greenland as part of the United States.
Separately, he leaked messages including from French President Emmanuel Macron, who questioned what Trump was “doing on Greenland”. Trump, who has vowed to impose tariffs on countries that stood in his way, had earlier threatened to hammer French wines and champagnes with a 200% tariff.
MACRON WANTS ‘RESPECT’ NOT ‘BULLIES’
After Trump’s broadsides, European leaders took to the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, attempting to project the continent’s strength, though it was not immediately clear how the European Union will eventually respond.
Macron said the EU should not bend to “the law of the strongest”.
“We do believe that we need more growth, we need more stability in this world, but we do prefer respect to bullies,” Macron told the meeting in Davos, which Trump is due to attend later this week.
Some spoke of the importance of reducing European dependence for security on the United States. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described a “seismic change” that made it necessary to build a “new form of European independence”.
The EU has threatened to hit back against the U.S. with trade measures. One option is a package of tariffs on 93 billion euros ($109 billion) of U.S. imports that could automatically kick in on February 6 after a six-month suspension.
Reuters.