Trump attends World Economic Forum amid U.S.-European tensions over Greenland : NPR

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

President Trump is scheduled to travel to Davos, Switzerland, this week for the World Economic Forum. It’s where heads of state and business leaders chat and make deals. This year, it comes as relations between the United States and Europe are at an all-time low due to President Trump’s threats to take Greenland and punish any country that resists with higher tariffs. NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley is tracking it all, and she’s with us now to tell us more. Hello, Eléonore.

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Hello, Michel.

MARTIN: So how are President Trump’s continued calls to take Greenland going – how are these calls affecting Davos?

BEARDSLEY: Well, you know, Michel, this casts a huge shadow over Davos. The confrontation between the EU and the United States over Greenland further intensified over the weekend. Eight countries showing solidarity with Greenland and Denmark held a military exercise on the mineral-rich Arctic island. Trump responded by threatening these countries – and they were France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Denmark – who are big players – with an additional 10% tariff that would take effect on February 1, if they continued to try to block his plans in Greenland. And this is in addition to the 15% already in place for the EU in general. In response, EU ambassadors met in Brussels and issued a rare joint statement reaffirming solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland, saying the tariffs only harm transatlantic relations, and warning of the risk of a dangerous downward spiral. I spoke with Célia Belin, who heads the Paris office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. She thus summed up the state of mind of Europeans.

CELIA BELIN: The feeling right now is twofold. You have a feeling of panic. Is he really going to do this? But the other element, I think, that determines how Europeans will feel is a sense of determination. This goes too far. There is no way they will accept this.

MARTIN: Or, but what can Europe really do?

BEARDSLEY: Well, they have a few options, Michel. The first is to delay the transatlantic trade agreement negotiated last summer. It’s only partially in place. It was expected to be ratified by the European Parliament by February. There are no tariffs on American products in this treaty, but there is talk of blocking it and imposing tariffs on American products like food, clothing and alcohol. You know, the Europeans are smiling and suffering a lot of humiliation from the Trump administration because they want to keep the United States in tune with the end of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. But Europeans are angry. Trump’s actions are considered blackmail, and the United States treats it as an adversary, so it wants to use the economic power of its huge single market of 450 million people to fight back.

And French President Emmanuel Macron will push to activate the EU’s anti-coercion instrument. It is also known as a bazooka. It was first adopted in 2023. It has never been used, but it allows the EU to take action against perceived economic coercion by a third party with its own retaliatory measures. This means that the EU could restrict American companies, you know, to its huge market. Note that this measure was originally designed to be used against China, not the EU’s biggest ally.

MARTIN: You know what? Speaking of China, President Trump said that if the United States does not take Greenland, China or Russia will. What do Europeans say about this statement?

BEARDSLEY: Well, Arctic and Greenland experts say there’s no such imminent threat. But Europeans admit that the island, rich in minerals, could benefit from better protection. But Michel, there is a Cold War treaty between the United States and Denmark, which is still in effect. Europeans welcome more troops. There were some 10,000 American troops there in the 1980s. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas put it this way. According to her, the Greenland problem should be dealt with within NATO. Tariffs weaken our common prosperity. And writing about the allies’ divisions on X, she said, quote: “China and Russia must have a field day.”

MARTIN: That’s Eleanor Beardsley from NPR. Eléonore, thank you.

BEARDSLEY: Thank you, Michel.

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