At Davos, Trump’s Greenland push ignites transatlantic showdown
DAVOS, Switzerland — President Donald Trump descended on the World Economic Forum on Wednesday for a high-stakes confrontation with European leaders, arriving as his bid to secure U.S. control over Greenland and threats of tariffs on European allies deepen the most serious rift across the Atlantic in decades.
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Trump’s keynote address to the annual gathering of political and business elites — his first in six years — is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. local time (1:30 p.m. Irish time). “I’m going to a beautiful place in Switzerland where I’m sure I’m very happily awaited for,” he said with a smile at a White House briefing marking his first year back in power, before departing Washington.
Leaders in Davos have rallied against the White House’s “America First” posture and the Greenland gambit. French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to stand up to “bullies,” while the European Union promised an “unflinching” response to U.S. pressure.
Trump argues that mineral-rich Greenland is critical for U.S. and NATO security as melting Arctic sea routes open strategic lanes for Russia and China. He said he would hold multiple meetings on the issue at Davos.
The president has threatened tariffs of up to 25% on eight European countries he accuses of backing Denmark’s resistance to a U.S. move on Greenland. European officials have warned of swift countermeasures, raising fears of a new tariff spiral on top of an already fragile global economy.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen cautioned that U.S.-EU ties risk slipping into a “downward spiral.” At Davos, Macron called Trump’s tariff threats “unacceptable” and criticized any effort to “subordinate Europe.”
Trump publicly revealed a text message from Macron proposing a G7 summit in Paris focused on Greenland as well as Ukraine; the U.S. leader said he would not attend. Macron later clarified to AFP that no such gathering was scheduled.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has sought to reduce his country’s dependence on the United States after Trump called for it to become the 51st U.S. state, won a standing ovation in Davos. “Canada stands firmly with Greenland and Denmark,” Carney said.
Greenland’s prime minister warned that the island’s 57,000 people must be prepared for the use of military force. Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda told AFP that any U.S. move against a treaty ally “would be the end of NATO.”
Trump defended his record with the alliance, saying he had done “more for NATO than anyone,” and questioned whether allies would support Washington in a crisis — despite Denmark being among those that aided the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Beyond Greenland, the White House said Trump wanted to focus his Davos remarks on the U.S. economy and cost-of-living pressures that loom over Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms. But the geopolitical clash over the Arctic is set to overshadow the speech.
Trump is also expected to formally announce the first charter for his proposed “Board of Peace,” a conflict-resolution body with a $1 billion price tag for permanent membership. Conceived to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, a draft charter seen by AFP suggests a broader mandate. The president’s invitation to Russian leader Vladimir Putin has unnerved allies as the war in Ukraine grinds on. Moscow has openly reveled in the Greenland dispute, while dispatching a senior envoy to meet U.S. officials on Ukraine at Davos.
On Capitol Hill, there were signs of nerves — and hopes for a reset. Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican who joined a bipartisan congressional delegation to Copenhagen and Davos, said of the Greenland row, “I think it de-escalates over time.”
Whether Davos delivers a truce or a deeper split may hinge on what Trump says — and what he’s willing to trade — when the curtain rises this afternoon.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
