Zurich (AFP) – US President Donald Trump has made an astonishing series of attacks apparently designed to humiliate allies France, Britain, and Canada as the row over Greenland threatens to engulf the Davos forum. In a flurry of Truth Social posts and comments to reporters a day before he leaves for the elite gathering on Wednesday, Trump leaked apparently private text messages from French President Emmanuel Macron and the head of NATO. His comments leave the transatlantic alliance in perhaps its most fragile state since World War II — and underscore that Trump is determined to make a show of power at the meeting in the Swiss ski resort.
On the first anniversary of his inauguration for a second term that has already upended the global order, Trump took particular aim at Macron as their longstanding bromance appeared to implode. Trump first expressed his disdain for Macron’s refusal to join his so-called “Board of Peace” for resolving conflicts worldwide. “Nobody wants him because he’s going to be out of office very soon,” Trump told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One in Florida, before threatening 200 percent tariffs on French wine and champagne. A number of Western leaders harbor worries that the body, originally designed for Gaza, would create a shadow UN, while the inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin has caused alarm.
Shortly afterwards, Trump posted a private text message from Macron in which the French leader said, “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland” and offered to organize a G7 summit in Paris with Russia attending on the sidelines. But Trump was far from finished. From Air Force One, he posted an altered picture of him meeting European leaders in the Oval Office — with a picture of not only the United States but Canada and Greenland covered in the stars and stripes. The original photo, taken when European leaders rushed to the White House last August with Ukrainian President Zelensky to prop up US support for Kyiv, had already been mocked in some quarters as a sign of European weakness.
While Trump’s quest to take control of Greenland is the one that has shaken the world at the start of 2026, he has also called for Canada to become the 51st US state. He followed up on the posts with an image of himself holding the American flag on an icy landscape next to a sign saying “Greenland. US Territory, Est 2026,” accompanied by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Next in Trump’s sights was Britain, whose pride in its “special relationship” with the United States has come under fresh strain from his designs on Greenland. Trump lashed out at what he called London’s “great stupidity” for its deal to give Mauritius the Chagos Islands, an Indian Ocean archipelago that is home to the key Diego Garcia US-UK military base. As recently as May, Trump had endorsed the deal after it was signed. He linked the British decision to his current obsession, saying it was “another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.”
Trump still wasn’t finished — but for a change, he had something complimentary to say. His final message unveiled a private text message from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in which he thanked the former Dutch prime minister. Rutte, who famously referred to Trump as “Daddy” at a NATO summit last year, said in the message that he was “committed to finding a way forward on Greenland.” “Can’t wait to see you,” the NATO chief added. It was all in a night’s work for the US president — but it will leave the Europeans scrambling for ways to shore up the transatlantic alliance that has underpinned Western security for the past 80 years.
© 2024 AFP
