Something in Europe has snapped.
Donald Trump doubled down again on Monday night in his insistence that the US has to have Greenland for national security reasons.
He predicted that Europe's leaders aren't gonna push back too much. But that's not the plan they have in mind when their paths cross with the US president at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Wednesday.
Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark - a member of the EU and of Nato.
President Trump is now leaning heavily on Denmark's allies in both those organisations to abandon Copenhagen and let the US take control of Greenland, or face punitive taxes on all their exports to the United States.
It's a horror scenario for European economies, which are already in the doldrums, especially those reliant on exporting to the US like Germany's car industry and Italy's luxury goods market.
On Monday Germany's finance minister said “we will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed,” after an emergency meeting ahead of the WEF with his French counterpart.
The Trump threats landed like a slap in the face of European governments, who had only just settled tariff deals with the US last year.
We're living through uncharted territories. We've never seen this before. An ally, a friend of 250 years, is considering using tariffs as a geopolitical weapon, said France's Finance Minister Roland Lescure.
His German counterpart Lars Klingbeil added: A line has been crossed... You'll understand that today I'm not saying exactly what will happen. But one thing must be clear: Europe must be prepared. All of a sudden, the softly-softly approach to Trump, that Europe's leaders had clearly favoured since he returned for a second term to the White House, seems to have passed its sell-by date.
It's too early to read the last rites on transatlantic relations altogether but the EU is hoping to approach the US president in Switzerland this Wednesday at the Global Economic Forum speaking softly, while carrying a big stick to paraphrase a former US president.
European leaders are telling President Trump they'll support him in prioritising Arctic security, so there's no need for him to go it alone over Greenland. At the same time, EU diplomats have let it be known they're considering imposing €93 billion worth of tariffs on US goods or even restricting the access of American businesses, possibly including banks and high tech companies, to the bloc's massive single market, if Trump goes ahead with his Greenland tariffs.
These retaliatory measures would most likely have a knock-on effect on US consumers too. European Union investors have a massive presence in nearly all 50 US states and are said to be responsible for employing 3.4 million Americans.
The EU has a weak voice on the world stage of international diplomacy, made up of 27 often bickering countries. But it has huge clout when it comes to the global economy and trade, where decisions are largely taken by the European Commission on behalf of EU single market members. The European Union is the world's biggest trader of goods and services, accounting for nearly 16% of world trade in 2024.
So, Brussels is crossing its fingers that President Trump will climb down from his maximalist position and negotiate a compromise solution, if he realises, that he may end up gaining an island (Greenland) but he'll probably lose close allies (Europe), and be seen as responsible for US consumer costs going up due to EU retaliatory tariffs.
Now, the EU is advocating a position of engagement rather than escalation. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has raised concerns over any retaliation from Europe, warning that it would be unwise.
Transatlantic relations aren't broken yet, though they are damaged. If Europeans want to effectively negotiate with Donald Trump, they will need to present a united front at this critical juncture.
