Europe's Strategy: Responding to Trump's Greenland Threats

America's rattled European allies are debating how to stand up to Donald Trump after he escalated his threats to take over Greenland and pledged to punish its supporters with tariffs. The White House is warning Europe not to retaliate against the US president's "Greenland tariffs" as the EU considers using its so-called "trade bazooka" on the US in response. It comes as troops from multiple European nations amass in Greenland to send a message to Mr Trump, whose takeover threats have dominated talks among European leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The US president is scheduled to give a speech at the event on Wednesday, local time. Before leaving Washington, he told reporters he was confident of reaching a deal on Greenland that would make NATO "happy". "I'm leaving tonight, as you know, for Davos, and we have a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland," he said. Asked how far he was willing to go to acquire Greenland, Mr Trump said: "You'll find out." He had earlier fuelled fears among America's NATO allies with a series of social media posts on the subject. They included a provocative AI-generated image depicting a US takeover of Greenland, screenshots of private messages from European leaders, and an insistence that "Denmark and its European Allies HAVE TO DO THE RIGHT THING." On the weekend, he pledged to put new tariffs on eight European nations that had sent small numbers of troops to Greenland in a symbolic show of solidarity with the Danish territory. Meanwhile, the European Parliament is set to stop work on a trade deal that Europe and the US agreed on last year. EU representatives said that process would be formally suspended on Wednesday. European Union leaders have scheduled a separate emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday. Speaking in Davos, French President Emmanuel Macron described Mr Trump's tariff threat as fundamentally unacceptable. He said the EU must now consider using its anti-coercion mechanism, known as the "trade bazooka", which would restrict US access to European markets. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said the EU was "at a crossroads". He said the 27-member bloc was in a "very bad position" after trying to appease Mr Trump to get his support for Ukraine's defence against Russia's invasion. "So we should unite and we should say to Donald Trump … 'You're crossing red lines here'," Mr De Wever told a panel discussion in Davos. Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch said attempts to win over Mr Trump with flattery would no longer work. "Stroking the cat along the line of its fur is not going to do the trick this time," she told the Reuters news agency. "The EU needs to toughen up and hold the line." Several Trump administration officials flew into Davos ahead of the president and urged European leaders not to retaliate against Mr Trump's threatened tariffs. "I tell everyone: sit back, take a deep breath, do not retaliate," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Europe should "keep the pressure and temperature low". US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said it "would not be wise" for the EU to use its "trade bazooka". "What I've found is that when countries follow my advice, they tend to do OK," Mr Greer said. "When they don't, crazy things happen." Loading...