White House officials representing the Trump administration are making their rounds at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this Tuesday, rallying global partners to come on board and join the new and revamped U.S. global vision on trade and economic policy.
One of the sticking points of the event, however, is the increasing U.S. pressure to absorb Greenland into the U.S. fold.
European allies across the Atlantic have voiced their opposition to the move as the Trump administration doubles down on the effort to insulate its interests across the Western Hemisphere and prevent adversaries in China and Russia from exerting dominance in the Atlantic Arctic region.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick have argued that the Greenland move is part of a greater strategy to ensure U.S. strategic interests and national security in the Western Hemisphere.
“The Western Hemisphere is vital for the United States of America. Our national security people are on it, and they care about it”, said Lutnick when asked at a Davos panel among delegates from Western Europe.
Lutnick’s European counterparts, however, are not as convinced.
The Danish government, with the support from officials in Great Britain, France, and Germany, has been fending off a diplomatic onslaught by the Americans and the Trump administration, who have launched a renewed effort to annex the Danish territory, which has been under the Danish umbrella since 1721.
The Trump White House announced the imposition of a 10% increase in tariffs on Western governments that deployed soldiers to Greenland in the last week to repel a potential U.S. invasion. A stern reminder that the administration in Washington remains committed to preserving its interests in the North Atlantic.
Treasury Secretary Bessent also said in a briefing to officials that European backlash to Washington’s plan on Greenland is “a kind of hysteria”, and urged European partners to “Sit back, take a deep breath, and let things play out.” Bessent then added,
“The worst thing that countries can do is escalate against the United States.”
Greenland
Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, stated in his own speech regarding any potential U.S. takeover, that relations between the United States and NATO partners must be grounded in “mutual respect”, adding, “Right now we are talking about... the world order. Respect for territorial integrity, respect for international law. That’s what should unite all the Western countries.”
Nielsen also thanked the Western governments that have volunteered to send a small multinational force to support the territory of Greenland from a U.S. takeover.
Canada
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney asserted on Tuesday, “On Arctic sovereignty, we stand firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully support their unique right to determine Greenland's future.”
Carney also committed to its NATO obligation under Article 5, which compels NATO members to provide military support to another member under attack by a foreign military.
Denmark is a NATO member and retains territorial ownership of Greenland.
France
On Jan. 15, France, too, deployed 15 troops to Greenland as part of a multinational force to support Danish sovereignty.
French President Emmanuel Macron has also voiced resistance to a potential U.S. acquisition of Greenland, as was recently revealed by a screenshot of a private text shared by the U.S. president of Macron inquiring into U.S. plans for the Danish territory of Greenland, asking:
“My friend... I do not understand what you [Trump] are doing on Greenland.”
Macron spoke in a speech of a rapidly changing world of “instability and imbalance”, where conflicts are widening and becoming more frequent, and how international rules governing global affairs have diminished, and that a new world structure is shifting to the “law of the strongest” where “imperialist ambitions are resurfacing.”
President Trump is expected to arrive at Davos on Wednesday to meet with leaders on a variety of issues. Reports have indicated that the Trump delegation and Secret Service escort will be the largest arrangement that any previous trip by the U.S. president.
