As the dust settles from the turbulent second term of President Trump, the European Union now finds itself facing a new and potentially explosive crisis. The occupant of the White House has dangled the threat of economic punishment over the heads of countries supporting the territorial integrity of Denmark, an EU member.
Leaders across Europe are scrambling to convene an emergency EU summit in the coming days to address this latest development. The stakes are high, as any retaliation from the EU with countermeasures risks sparking a full-blown trade war with the United States.
The catalyst for this escalating situation is Trump’s insistence that Greenland is critical for US security, and his refusal to rule out taking the territory by force. This has alarmed European nations, who see it as a direct challenge to the sovereignty of Denmark.
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for the EU to wield its “trade bazooka” – the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) – for the first time. This would allow Europe to hit back with counter-tariffs, restrict access to the Single Market, and block applications for lucrative EU contracts.
However, not all EU leaders are on board with Macron’s hawkish approach. Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, who has enjoyed a better-than-most rapport with Trump, has spoken of a “problem of understanding and communication” over the recent deployment of European troops to Greenland.
Meloni’s explanation of something lost in translation opens the door to a more diplomatic approach to tackling this precarious EU-US crisis. Sunday’s emergency meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels was a discreet affair, unlike the high-profile summits where leaders face the cameras.
It remains unclear who will make the next move and whether Trump will back down from his latest threat or double down on it. EU action on such a sensitive issue is unlikely to be swift and unanimous, as the bloc has tried to placate the US president in his second term.
But now, there is a distinct feeling that Trump is not just pulling up the transatlantic diplomatic drawbridge, but threatening to blow it up altogether. As Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has stated, “Europe won’t be blackmailed.”