EU 'fully prepared' to hit back over Trump's Greenland tariffs, threats

The European Union (EU) is ready to strike back at US President Donald Trump over his tariff threats as he seeks to take Greenland, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, toughening her rhetoric against the US president.  

“We are at a crossroads,” said von der Leyen, the top EU executive, speaking before the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday. “Europe prefers dialog and solutions — but we are fully prepared to act, if necessary, with unity, urgency and determination.” 

Pointedly, von der Leyen also argued that there was no returning to the world order that Europe spent decades building with US cooperation. 

“The shift in the international order is not only seismic — but it is permanent,” she said. “We now live in a world defined by raw power.” “While many of us may not like it,” she added, “we must deal with the world as it is now.” 

Von der Leyen’s speech indicated a shift toward a more forceful approach to Trump’s persistent menacing of Europe. It comes as the EU chief faces pressure to push back harder against Trump’s global aggression. 

Von der Leyen said that the additional tariffs would be “simply wrong,” given the EU and the US shared the same strategic assessment on Arctic security.  

“If we are now plunging into a dangerous downward spiral between allies, this would only embolden the very adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of our strategic landscape,” she added, echoing a speech she gave Tuesday to the Davos audience. 

Already, the European Parliament is set to delay a vote on the ratification of a large EU-US trade deal over the Greenland crisis. Von der Leyen reiterated that the bloc is also preparing to back Greenland with a “massive European investment surge in the semi-autonomous island, to support the local economy and infrastructure.”  

In addition, she said, the EU will “strengthen our security arrangements” with the UK, Canada, Norway and Iceland, and will work on a new security strategy in the coming months. “I believe Europe itself needs to reassess its wider security strategy,” she said. “The world has changed so fast, and Europe now has to change with it.” 

Macron blasts Trump trade strategy 

French leader Emmanuel Macron attacked President Trump’s trade strategy, arguing that Europe needs to develop more sovereignty to avoid “vassalization and blood politics.”  He spoke out against competition from the US “through trade agreements that undermine our export interests, demand maximum concessions and openly aim to weaken and subordinate Europe.” 

This is “combined with an endless accumulation of new tariffs that are fundamentally unacceptable,” Macron said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.   

Macron has called for the EU to use its so-called Anti-Coercion Instrument, a tool that gives officials powers to curb access to the EU market. The ACI, which has never been used, was designed primarily as a deterrent, and if needed, to respond to deliberate coercive actions from third countries that use trade measures as a means to pressure the policy choices of the EU or its members. 

ACI measures could include tariffs, new taxes on tech companies or targeted curbs on investments in the EU. They could also involve limiting access to certain parts of the EU market or restricting firms from bidding for public contracts in Europe. 

Carney stands by Greenland 

Canada stands completely behind Greenland and Denmark, and the world’s middle powers must work together to resist coercion from aggressive superpowers, according to Prime Minister Mark Carney.  

Greenland and Denmark have a “unique right to determine Greenland’s future,” Carney said in prepared text of remarks to be delivered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  

Recent events have shown the “rules-based international order” is effectively dead, Carney said, which means Canada and other countries have no choice but to create new alliances to oppose pressure tactics and intimidation by the world’s great powers.  

Canada is working with partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to secure the alliance’s northern and western flanks, and its commitment to Article 5 — Nato’s joint defense clause — is “unwavering,” he added. 

Carney’s speech pushes back against Trump’s claims that the US must control Greenland, though his written text never mentions Trump or the US by name. It came hours after  Macron attacked Trump’s trade strategy, which includes the threat of further tariffs on European nations unless the US is allowed to acquire Greenland, the huge Arctic island that’s part of Denmark.  Overnight, Trump posted a photo of a map that shows both Greenland and Canada covered by the American flag. 

Faced with strong-arm tactics by larger nations, “there is a strong tendency for countries to go along to get along. To accommodate. To avoid trouble. To hope that compliance will buy safety,” Carney said. “It won’t.”  

“Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” the prime minister told the summit.   In Davos, Carney called on world leaders and companies to start “naming reality.” He cited a famous essay from Czech dissident Václav Havel that described how the communist system sustained itself because people were willing to lie to each other, and to themselves, about its realities.  

ECB’s Lagarde left Davos dinner after Lutnick slammed Europe 

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde abruptly walked out of an invitation-only sit-down dinner in Davos after US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick started laying into Europe, according to people familiar with the matter. The VIP event on Tuesday evening was attended by more than 100 people and featured Lutnick as the final speaker, said the people, who declined to be identified discussing private matters. 

Lutnick’s speech to the dinner guests belittled European economies and their lack of competitiveness compared to the US’s prowess. It made several Europeans in the room uncomfortable and as the criticism escalated, Lagarde was seen exiting, the people said.  

The US official was described as having a bad seat at the back of the room and his remarks were met with some booing, one person said. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was placed at the head table, which also featured Blackrock Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink. 

The ECB president is a former French finance minister and also headed the International Monetary Fund for most of Trump’s first term. She started warning in early 2024 that his return to the White House could spell trouble for Europe.

The ECB declined to comment.  

A spokesperson for the US Commerce Department said that no one left hastily during Lutnick’s three-minute speech and that only one person booed — adding that it was former US Vice President Al Gore. 

“I sat and listened to his remarks,” Gore said in a statement provided by a spokesperson. “I didn’t interrupt him in any way. It’s no secret that I think this administration’s energy policy is insane. And at the end of his speech I reacted with how I felt, and so did several others.” 

One European CEO and a euro-zone official member, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lagarde was right to walk out of that dinner and that Europe needed to start standing up for itself.  

New World Order 

Lagarde on Wednesday morning spoke with RTL radio, highlighting that “we are seeing the curtain come up on a new world order.” 

“Threatening to take a territory like Greenland that is not for sale, and brandishing tariffs and restrictions on global trade, isn’t really behaving like an ally,” she said. “This new world order must lead us to deeply revise the way we organize our economy in Europe, in the way we build ties with other countries in the world who play by the same rules as us.” 

Speaking at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon said he’d use a different tack than President Donald Trump in addressing US differences with Europe, with the goal of making the region stronger instead of more fragmented. 

“I would be more polite about it, about the weaknesses of Europe,” he said. 

The Davos dinner incident was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.