Europe’s leaders plot to stop Trump from taking Greenland 

It’s no longer a joke. 

After initially provoking disbelief, U.S President Donald Trump’s audacious plan to acquire Greenland — potentially by force — has triggered frantic talks among European leaders aiming to stop him. 

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dashed between Berlin, Brussels and Paris on Tuesday to shore up support in the face of Trump’s increasingly aggressive overtures toward the territory. The pair clashed in a reportedly fiery 45-minute call two weeks ago, when it became clear to the Danish leader Trump was deadly serious. 

Trump said it is a matter of vital national security for the U.S. to gain control of the self-governing Arctic territory, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, a founding member of NATO. Since Denmark is an EU member state, Greenlanders are European Union citizens. 

Frederiksen said her talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Tuesday had gone “incredibly well.” It is “absolutely crucial” for Europe to “stand together” on Greenland, she declared.

“I don’t travel around giving speeches. I don’t need to,” Frederiksen said. “But I am safeguarding Denmark’s interests, and I am doing so very firmly right now.”

She added: “There must be respect for territory and the sovereignty of states. This is an absolutely crucial cornerstone of the international world order we have built since World War II.” 

The German chancellor reinforced the point, as did other senior European officials speaking privately. “The inviolability of borders is a fundamental principle of international law,” Scholz said. “Russia has broken this principle with its invasion of Ukraine, thereby also laying the axe to the peace order in Europe. This principle must apply to everyone.”

Scholz warned that “borders must not be moved by force,” pointedly addressing his comment “to whom it may concern.”

In addition to meeting the leaders of France and Germany, Frederiksen also held talks with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels and last week spoke by phone with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. 

Diplomats have now set aside time to discuss European relations with Trump — likely including the Greenland crisis — at an informal meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Feb. 3, according to several people familiar with the plans. Starmer is also due to attend the gathering, as London and Brussels seek closer cooperation on defense and security. 

Trump’s return to the White House just over a week ago has already tested the resolve of America’s allies across the Atlantic. The strategy in Europe and the U.K. so far has been to ignore the noise and focus on what Trump actually does. Avoiding a public war of words, where possible, is widely seen as the best approach in capitals from London to Copenhagen. 

“There was clear consensus that last time we ended up in a situation where we responded to every tweet,” said one diplomat, who like others was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive issues. “We cannot spend four years reacting to every tweet.” 

On Greenland, however, which has vast mineral reserves and occupies a strategic position in the Arctic, the EU’s watch-and-wait approach to apparent U.S. designs on the territory seems to be running out of road.

“The situation is really serious and everyone thinks that the European reaction so far hasn’t been very credible,” another European diplomat said. “We’ve moved on from shock and denial, we’re now changing gear.”

Frederiksen and European Council President António Costa have held several conversations about Trump and Greenland in recent weeks. “We have been coordinating whatever we would or will say on Greenland very closely with the Danes from the beginning,” a senior EU official confirmed. 

“We are totally and fully supportive of whatever Denmark and Greenland decide,” the senior EU official said. “We are ready, and the Danes know that, to reaffirm that whenever needed.”