President Donald Trump’s threats aimed at Europe and the Arctic—along with his push for Denmark to cede control of Greenland—have left U.S. allies signaling they plan for a future that does not assume steady American leadership, the Associated Press reported.
AP said Trump has cast aside alliances forged over decades that, according to the report, helped shape European security and post-Cold War outcomes. The report described leaders receiving language and demands that they view as more hostile than previous U.S. approaches, and said the resulting uncertainty has spread into how partners think about Washington’s reliability going forward.
The Greenland episode has been the sharpest example, AP said. The report described Trump dismissing Greenland as a large “piece of ice” while demanding Denmark transfer control to the United States, and said the move could have caused NATO to fracture. AP also said Trump called Denmark “ungrateful” for U.S. protection during World War II, posted private text messages showing European leaders trying to court him, and shared images of himself planting the U.S. flag in Greenland.
AP said Trump’s remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos reinforced the perception of confrontation with Europe. It reported that Trump told attendees Europe was “not heading in the right direction” and, at another point in the speech, said “sometimes you need a dictator.” The report said hours later he announced a “framework of a future deal” on Arctic security but provided few details.
Even after Trump backed away, for now, from the most potent Greenland threats, AP reported that the episode has left the U.S. standing in the world uncertain. The report said NATO leaders were already responding to the threats by signaling strategies that do not include the United States, a shift that could complicate any attempt by a future president to repair reputational damage quickly.
AP contrasted the current moment with the way Joe Biden positioned U.S. policy toward Europe before Trump’s return. The report cited Biden telling the Munich Security Conference in 2021 that “America is back,” and that “The transatlantic alliance is back,” describing it as a promise meant to present earlier disruptions as an anomaly. AP said Biden’s assurances have proven short-lived.
In interviews connected to the European response, AP quoted Jon Finer, who served as Biden’s deputy national security adviser, saying improvements would be possible but would not restore trust in the same way. Finer said: “To an extent, things can be improved, But they will never be the same in large part because I think any country that is behaving rationally in terms of its relationship with the United States will realize that we can only be counted on in four year increments, if at all.”
AP also cited Canada’s shift toward independent planning under Prime Minister Mark Carney. The report said Carney told audiences that the notion of a longstanding rules-based order was an “illusion,” and quoted him saying, “Let me be direct: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” adding that he called on so-called middle powers to “act together.” AP said Carney, who parried Trump’s gambit to treat Canada as a “51st state,” was in Beijing meeting with Xi Jinping and brokered a deal cutting levies on Chinese electric cars in exchange for lower tariffs on some Canadian agricultural and food products, including canola, lobsters and crab.
On trade and alliance politics more broadly, AP said the European Union and the Mercosur bloc formally signed a long-sought free trade agreement and that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen portrayed it as a bulwark against the Trump administration. The report said EU lawmakers narrowly voted on Wednesday to hold up the deal for now. AP described European leaders using unusually direct language about the risk of departing from established norms, with French President Emmanuel Macron warning against “a shift towards a world without rules” and Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever saying “so many red lines have been crossed” and that backing down would cost dignity.
AP also reported that criticism of Trump came from longtime European allies on the political right. It cited Nigel Farage telling U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson in an interview that he viewed the Greenland approach as “a very hostile act,” and said Farage described Trump’s overall approach as the “biggest fracture” in the transatlantic relationship in decades. AP said Jordan Bardella, a far-right French politician and European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year’s tariff deal with the U.S. and called Trump’s threats “commercial blackmail.”
In Washington, AP said congressional Republicans have largely supported Trump or stayed silent, though it pointed to pointed concerns from some in the party. The report quoted Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska saying “all of this has been totally unnecessary,” and added: “Threatening Greenland with force was absurd.” AP said Democrats pushed for a more robust response. It reported that California Gov. Gavin Newsom, attending Davos, criticized Europeans for focusing on diplomatic efforts ahead of Trump’s appearance, saying “He’s a T-Rex” and “You mate with him or he devours you.” AP said Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, argued that it “may take some time” for a future president to rebuild trust and that global relationships may require “two consecutive elections” showing a president who will “stick by our institutions,” while allies try to determine “where we will be.”