President Trump early Tuesday posted a flurry of private messages from European leaders and mocked opponents of his plans to annex Greenland into the U.S.
Mr. Trump shared private messages from French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on his Truth Social page.
Mr. Macron said, “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland,” while Mr. Rutte praised Mr. Trump on other foreign matters and said he was “committed to finding a way forward on Greenland.”
Mr. Trump says Danish control of Greenland is not a big enough deterrent to countries like China and Russia, so the U.S. should take charge of the Arctic island. He will lay out that case during meetings with European leaders this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Ahead of his travel, Mr. Trump posted doctored social media posts that showed the president speaking to European leaders in the Oval Office with American flags overlaid on a map of Canada and Greenland.
Another post depicted him planting an American flag on Greenland with Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking to Fox Business, urged foreign leaders to take a deep breath and hear out Mr. Trump in Davos.
Mr. Bessent said Mr. Trump wants to acquire Greenland to “prevent a conflict, rather than becoming involved in a full-blown war after a foreign incursion.
Yet European leaders say Mr. Trump is increasingly antagonistic, pointing to his threat to impose new tariffs on eight European nations over their resistance to his Greenland plan.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking in Davos, said Tuesday that a EU-U.S. trade deal is still nearing completion.
“When friends shake hands, it must mean something,” she said.
However, Ms. von der Leyen said Europe would be “unflinching, united and proportional” in its response to any trade crackdown over Greenland.
“We consider the people of the United States not just our allies, but our friends. And plunging us into a downward spiral would only aid the very adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of the strategic landscape,” she said.
Mr. Macron said Europe might be forced to use its “trade bazooka,” or anti-coercion mechanisms that could impose tariffs, trade restrictions and limit foreign investment.
He warned the globe to avoid “an endless accumulation of new tariffs,” a not-so-subtle warning to Mr. Trump.
In his message to Mr. Trump, Mr. Macron suggested that Mr. Trump join him for dinner in Paris after the Davos meetings.
