“DOWNWARD SPIRAL”
Trump insists that mineral-rich Greenland is vital for US and NATO security towards Russia and China as a melting Arctic opens up and the superpowers jostle for strategic development.
He has turned up the strain by threatening tariffs of as much as 25 per cent on eight European nations for backing Denmark, prompting Europe to threaten countermeasures towards the US.
At Davos on Tuesday, Macron, in sun shades due to a burst blood vessel, warned towards US makes an attempt to “subordinate Europe”, and blasted Trump’s tariff threats as “unacceptable”.
Macron was the topic of Trump’s mockery as he publicly revealed a textual content message from the French chief proposing a G7 summit in Paris on Thursday on Greenland in addition to Ukraine.
Trump later mentioned he wouldn’t be a part of any such assembly, whereas Macron clarified to AFP that no gathering was scheduled.
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen in the meantime warned that Trump risked plunging US ties with the European Union right into a “downward spiral”.
And Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney – who has sought to scale back his personal nation’s dependence on Washington since Trump known as for it to change into the 51st US state – received a standing ovation at Davos for his stance.
“Canada stands firmly with Greenland and Denmark,” Carney mentioned.
In his Davos speech, the White Home mentioned Trump needed to concentrate on the US financial system amid a price of dwelling disaster that threatens his Republicans within the 2026 midterms.
However the US president’s extraordinary assertion of US energy on the world stage one yr into his second time period means Greenland will kind the backdrop to the handle.
