In the frozen expanse of the Arctic, a dispute that once sounded like bluster has hardened into a serious test of alliances. Europe is signaling that Greenland’s future is not negotiable, even as President Trump presses his case with tariffs, threats and spectacle, forcing a reckoning over how much strain the transatlantic relationship can endure.
European leaders have pledged a united and resolute response to President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to take over Greenland and impose tariffs on nations opposing his plans.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that Trump’s threats would be a “mistake” and promised that Europe’s reaction would be “unflinching, united and proportional.”
“Plunging us into a downward spiral would only aid the very adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of the strategic landscape. So our response will be unflinching, united and proportional,” von der Leyen said in a keynote address at the World Economic Forum.
She described the threatened tariffs as a “mistake” and emphasized the importance of maintaining trust between long-standing allies.
“The proposed additional tariffs are a mistake, especially between long-standing allies,” von der Leyen said. “The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal last July. And in politics as in business, a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something.”
At the same time, von der Leyen affirmed Europe’s commitment to Arctic security, which Trump has cited as one reason for his ambitions in Greenland.
“We are working on a massive European investment surge in Greenland,” she said. “We will work with the United States and all partners on wider Arctic security. This is clearly in our shared interest.”
Denmark’s Economy Minister Stephanie Lose also urged the EU not to rule out any response to Trump’s tariff threats, emphasizing that the matter extends beyond Greenland to the entire transatlantic relationship.
“This is not a question about the Kingdom of Denmark, it is about the entire transatlantic relationship,” Lose told journalists ahead of an EU meeting of economy and finance ministers in Brussels.
She added, “At this point in time, we do not believe that anything should be ruled out. This is a serious situation that, although we would like to de-escalate, there are others who are contributing to escalating it right now, and therefore we will have to keep all options on the table as we move forward.”
The tension over Greenland has escalated in recent weeks. The Trump administration has announced plans to levy tariffs of 10 percent on imports from eight European countries, with the rate potentially rising to 25 percent, if Washington’s demands are not met.
Sources in the EU note that applying tariffs to individual members of the EU single market could prove difficult because goods can circulate freely among the bloc’s 27 countries, complicating efforts to track their origins.
“Exports of French wine, Dutch cheese and Danish pharmaceuticals from Budapest to the US might suddenly spike,” said an EU diplomat cited by AFP, referring to the close relationship between Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Trump. “Let’s see if Trump is going to punish his friend Orban with a tariff.”
European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill added that while the tariffs are “technically possible,” they would require complex bureaucratic procedures.
Other European leaders voiced their own warnings. Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat since December 2024, told the European Parliament that Europe must respond according to international law.
“No country has the right to take over the territory of another. Not in Ukraine, not in Greenland, not anywhere in the world,” Kallas said.
She noted that Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, is under NATO protection, and she called Trump’s security concerns as a reason for a takeover “unfounded.”
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen struck a cautious tone, acknowledging that while military action by the United States was unlikely, it could not be entirely ruled out.
“It is unlikely that military force will be used, but it cannot be ruled out either. The other party has said so clearly,” Nielsen said. He stressed that any escalation could have consequences beyond Greenland, given the island’s NATO membership.
Amid the rising tensions, France’s President Emmanuel Macron clarified that no G7 meeting was scheduled at the World Economic Forum, despite a text he sent to Trump offering to host one in Paris to discuss Greenland and Ukraine.
“No meeting is scheduled. The French presidency is willing to hold one,” Macron told AFP. The text, published by Trump on Truth Social, included Macron’s words: “I can set up a G7 meeting after Davos in Paris on Thursday afternoon.”
Even outside Europe, leaders voiced concern. California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized both Trump and Europe’s handling of the situation.
“The Europeans should decide for themselves what to do. But one thing they cannot do is what they have been doing. And they have been played. This guy is playing folks for fools and it is embarrassing,” Newsom said. He added, “This is diplomacy with Donald Trump? He is a T-Rex: you mate with him or he devours you, one or the other.”
Trump, meanwhile, announced he would meet with “various parties” in Davos to discuss 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,” he wrote on Truth Social.
He accompanied the post with AI-generated images depicting himself planting a U.S. flag in Greenland and presenting maps to other world leaders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautioned that the Greenland dispute should not distract from Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. “I am worried about any loss of focus during a full-scale war,” Zelenskyy said. “We have a full-scale war, we have a specific aggressor, and we have specific victims. I want very, very much America to hear Europe, to truly hear it in the format of diplomacy. I think that is what will happen and I strongly believe there will not be any major threats.”
As European leaders weigh their next steps, Brussels is considering strong economic measures, sometimes referred to as the “trade bazooka,” to counter the U.S. threats. However, a misstep could embolden Trump to escalate his ambitions in the Arctic, potentially reshaping transatlantic relations for years to come.
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