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For Europe, Donald Trump’s return to the White House seems certain. The regime’s threat to annex Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, has thrust NATO into an unprecedented situation. Alliances based on collective defense – where an attack on one country is an attack on all – now face the prospect that one member state could attack another.
The White House said on Tuesday that the president was “discussing a wide range of options” for acquiring Greenland, and that he was not considering bringing in U.S. troops. President Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, declared a return to a world where the strong take what they can and suffer what the weak deserve, telling CNN: “We are a superpower, and…we are going to act like a superpower.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has tried to play down concerns about military intervention, saying the Trump administration is considering buying Greenland, but Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that “if the United States chooses to attack other NATO countries militarily, everything, including NATO, will cease, and therefore the security that has been established since the end of World War II.”
But other European leaders have remained silent, at least in public, for uncomfortable reasons. The United States may no longer be a reliable ally for Europe, but it remains a necessary ally for now. Europe needs U.S. military and diplomatic support to reject Russia, but President Trump’s new threats against Greenland have put Europe in a bind. How to keep the US out of Greenland and invest in Ukraine?
The tensions were on display this week in Paris when representatives from 35 countries, including the United States, debated how to ensure Ukraine’s post-war security if a peace deal with Russia is reached. The talks went smoothly and led to concrete commitments, but the amiable man was strained by uncomfortable questions at a press conference about the day’s diplomatic issues.
“I know there is some reluctance to talk about Greenland today, but what value do these[US security]commitments have on the very day you are talking at the highest levels of the Washington government about occupying the territory of a fellow NATO member?” a reporter asked British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Mr Starmer hit back, pointing out that he had previously expressed solidarity with Denmark. French President Emmanuel Macron dodged a similar question. The British and French leaders, standing next to U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, were unwilling to criticize U.S. threats against Denmark for fear of jeopardizing U.S. involvement in the Ukraine peace process.
Europe has already given up a lot of ground to get the US on its side. Its leaders have been condemned by Vice President J.D. Vance in Munich, abused online by Elon Musk, and accused of “trampling on basic democratic principles” in the Trump administration’s national security strategy to suppress “patriotic” political parties championed by Washington. The European Union also agreed to impose a 15% tariff on trade with the United States.
Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said many are calling for Europe to take a tougher stance against the United States, but Europe does not have the strength to do so.
“Many European leaders want to be tough on the United States. They want to stand up and shout out what they see, but they are not in a position to do so because for a very long time, they have entrusted Europe’s security to the United States,” Rahman told CNN.
Rahman said, as last year, Europe’s priority for 2026 is to maintain U.S. involvement in Ukraine, even if it means pressuring Copenhagen to “compromise” with the U.S. over Greenland. “Basically I don’t think they have a choice, because the process of rearmament in Europe will take three to five years,” he added.
Europe has been funding Ukraine’s defense for more than a year, as the Trump administration has not sought Congressional approval for new U.S. military aid to the country. Nevertheless, while Europe is building its own defense industrial base, it remains heavily dependent on the United States for weapons purchased for Ukraine.
Although Europe relies on the United States for military equipment in the short term, veteran American diplomat Daniel Fried told CNN that the continent has more influence than is commonly thought.
“There are many areas where European defense suppliers can compete with the United States. We’re not the only ones making fighter jets,” said Fried, who served as assistant secretary of state for European affairs under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. “Europeans may decide that they cannot continue to share cutting-edge drone technology with Americans.”
In some parts of Europe, there are calls for more dramatic immediate action. French MEP Raphaël Glucksmann called on the EU to establish a permanent military base in Greenland, saying it would “send a strong signal to President Trump and counter the US claim that we do not have the capacity to ensure the security of Greenland.”
But Majida Ruge, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the goal should be “not a military confrontation with the United States, but rather an early and visible raising of the political, economic and alliance costs of unilateral U.S. action in order to persuade President Trump not to act,” adding that there could also be “non-military methods.”
“If President Trump chooses to escalate, make sure he has to openly exclude his European allies, rather than acting in a political vacuum, which would significantly increase the domestic and political costs for him,” Rouge told CNN.
Americans overwhelmingly oppose the use of military force to seize Greenland, according to an August YouGov poll conducted after Denmark summoned a US envoy following reports that a number of American men were engaged in a covert campaign to influence Greenland’s politics. Only 7% of American adults said they supported the use of force to annex Greenland, while 72% opposed it.
Trump first came to power in 2016, fueled by his longstanding opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and other costly “forever wars.” But the president told the New York Times on Wednesday that U.S. surveillance of Venezuela could continue for years after the overthrow of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro.
It is unclear how much the Trump administration will respond to domestic and international criticism. This week, Miller disparaged “international goodwill,” telling CNN: “We live in a real world that is ruled by force, ruled by force, and ruled by force. These are the iron laws of the world that have existed since time immemorial.”
Europe is hoping that President Trump’s interest in Greenland will wane, as it did last year, but officials in London and Brussels fear it will be different this time.
“People have woken up to the fact that this is not a dream he dreamed up. He is very serious about this,” a British lawmaker told CNN on condition of anonymity.
“I don’t think there is any naivety about the nature of the US administration, whether in Berlin or Paris or London,” Eurasia Group’s Rahman said. “Americans know that the Europeans are weak. Looters prey on the weak. That’s what the Trump administration is doing. There’s not much the Europeans can do.
“For many countries, it’s buying time. This is a bridge. We have to work with the Trump administration until Europe can protect itself.”
