European Leaders Prepare to Drop 'Don't Upset the Toddler' Approach to Trump

You get the sense European governments are running short on patience and preparing to drop the don’t-upset-the-toddler approach that has governed relations with Donald Trump for the last 12 months. The period of EU leaders smiling through gritted teeth and stressing the enduring strength of the transatlantic bond, at the same time as Mr Trump publicly trashes the long-standing relationship, may be coming to an end. Mr Trump’s threat to hit eight European countries with new trade tariffs, in retaliation for their support of allies Greenland and Denmark, marks another serious escalation in the diplomatic row over the Arctic territory. Ambassadors from the EU’s 27 states held crisis talks in Brussels on Sunday, as governments scrambled to respond to Washington’s latest diplomatic firebomb. French president Emmanuel Macron, who has favoured Europe taking a tougher line with the US president, said the latest threats were “unacceptable”. “No intimidation or threat will influence us – neither in Ukraine, nor in Greenland, nor anywhere else in the world,” he said. Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson said his country would not be “blackmailed” for standing four-square behind Denmark and Greenland. Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee said the threats of tariffs were “completely unacceptable and deeply regrettable”. In a warning delivered by Mr Trump on his Truth Social platform, the US president said European countries who recently sent military personnel to Greenland, in a show of solidarity with Denmark, were “playing a very dangerous game”. [ EU ambassadors summoned for emergency talks after Trump threatens to impose tariffs over GreenlandOpens in new window ] Mr Trump said he would hike tariffs on future imports of goods from those countries by 10 per cent, then 25 per cent, until the US was allowed to “buy” Greenland. The import duties – if realised – would tear up separate deals the UK and EU struck with the White House last year, to avoid a trade war by accepting one-way tariffs on exports to the US. Mr Trump singled out the UK, Norway, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Denmark. However, new tariffs cannot target individual member states so would have to be levied on the entire EU bloc. The eight European countries warning in a joint statement that Mr Trump’s threats risked creating a “dangerous downward spiral”. Similar to Mr Trump’s talk about using military force to seize Greenland, the proposed tariffs could be a tactless negotiating strategy to strong-arm Denmark into selling the semi-autonomous island to the US. There is already a US military base on Greenland that serves as an important spotter to detect any missile launched towards the US from the north. Denmark has said there is nothing to stop Mr Trump expanding the US military presence there, under a security agreement already in place. Any military intervention by the US would potentially trigger a conflict with Denmark, a Nato member and traditionally a firm American ally. That would irrevocably shatter the European-US partnership that has underpinned the international order since the end of the second World War. [ Denmark and Greenland united in mass protests against Trump annexation threatsOpens in new window ] Privately, European leaders are taking the threats seriously. Copenhagen has been bracing itself for Mr Trump to have another run at acquiring Greenland ever since he spoke about it at the start of his second term. There was a touch of naivety back then among Brussels-based diplomats and politicians. Officials commonly recalled how Europe had successfully managed Mr Trump during his first term and that he rarely followed through on the worst of his talk. It seems a realisation is really setting in this time around that Mr Trump is much better at marshalling the full might of US power to get what he wants. Previously unthinkable scenarios are becoming very possible.