Macron Warns Against 'New Imperialism' in Trump Rebuke

Updated January 21, 2026 — 5:56am,first published 5:28am You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. London: French President Emmanuel Macron has delivered a blistering response to US President Donald Trump in a deepening row over the transatlantic alliance, warning against a “new imperialism” and declaring that Europe would not give in to bullies. Macron said the European Union “should not hesitate” to use sweeping trade sanctions against the US in the dispute over Greenland, as other leaders also denounced Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on eight nations that do not accept his claim to the Arctic territory. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who joined European leaders against Trump on the issue, warned that the “rules-based order” had ended and called for middle powers to negotiate together to resist coercion by major powers. The remarks at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland came as Trump heads to the gathering in the resort town of Davos to deliver an address on Wednesday, hours after he declared on social media he would not back down in his plan to add Greenland to the US. Advertisement A spiralling trade dispute is under way. Europe is preparing to retaliate against the US tariffs and the NATO alliance is being reshaped, as Trump uses the economic threats against allies including the UK, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark, a kingdom that includes Greenland. “It’s not a time for new imperialism or new colonialism,” Macron said in his address to the forum. The French president, sporting aviator sunglasses due to an eye condition, named three priorities for the world – growth, peace and a response to climate change – and said the world should not waste time on “crazy” ideas. “This is a time of co-operation in order to fix these three global challenges for our fellow citizens,” he said. Advertisement “We do prefer respect to bullies. And we do prefer rule of law to brutality.” Macron did not name Trump in his address, but his remarks left no doubt that he wanted fellow members in the European Union to agree on vigorous sanctions against the US if the White House went ahead with the tariffs. European leaders are expected to speak to Trump at the Davos gathering, but they are also planning a meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss a joint response to the US threat of 10 per cent tariffs on all exports from February 1, rising to 25 per cent from June 1. Macron backed the use of a powerful mechanism known as the “anti-coercion instrument” within the EU because it authorises the use of tariffs, investment controls and other policy decisions against a country that threatens coercion against the EU. Advertisement This could lead to tariffs on US exports to Europe worth €93 billion ($162 billion), although the scope would depend on a negotiation. The mechanism has been dubbed a “trade bazooka” in the media. Macron spoke hours after Trump revealed a private text message from the French president. “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland,” Macron said in the message, which Trump posted to his Truth Social site. One of Trump’s strongest American critics, California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, expressed frustration with European leaders for negotiating with the US president rather than defying him. Advertisement “It is time to get serious, and stop being complicit,” he told reporters. “It’s time to stand tall and firm, have a backbone.” Most European leaders, however, rejected Trump’s demands in their remarks at the forum, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever took a similar line to Macron, in a sign of the support within the EU for the use of the “bazooka” on trade. “Being a happy vassal is one thing. Being a miserable slave is something else,” De Wever told the forum. He likened Trump to the “very hungry caterpillar” in the children’s book by Eric Carle because it gets a stomach ache after eating too much. Advertisement Trump stuck by his plans on social media in a post about his agreements with NATO, which included commitments from European members last year to increase their defence spending. “No single person, or President, has done more for NATO than President Donald J. Trump,” he posted. “If I didn’t come along, there would be no NATO right now!!!” Carney, however, made a lengthy case for nations to work together to resist coercion by the major powers, although he did not name the US or China. “We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn’t mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy, but we believe that from the fracture, we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just,” he said. Advertisement “The middle powers must act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu. “Great powers can afford, for now, to go it alone. They have the market size, the military capacity and the leverage to dictate terms. Little powers do not. “But when we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what’s offered, we compete with each other to be the most accommodating. “This is not sovereignty. It’s the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination in a world of great power rivalry.” Advertisement The answer, Carney said, was for like-minded nations to work together rather than being divided by the biggest powers. Macron also used his address to encourage wealthy global investors – the key audience at Davos, which is primarily a gathering of industry chiefs and policy advisers – to back Europe because of the unpredictability of others, although he did not name the US. “We have a place where rule of law and predictability is still the rule of the game. And my guess is that it is largely underpriced by the market,” he said. With wires Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. More: Trump diplomacy EU Emmanuel Macron USA Trump's America Donald Trump NATO Greenland Trade wars David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via Twitter or email.