EU chief promises ‘unflinching’ response to new tariffs as Trump trolls and threatens on social media

Trump shares map on social media that shows Greenland and Canada as U.S. territory

European Commission President ​Ursula von der Leyen said ​on Tuesday the EU shared concerns with the United States about Arctic security, but if President Donald Trump followed through with new tariffs based on a dispute over Greenland, the alliance’s response would be “unflinching” and “united.”

Von der Leyen, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said the U.S. risks sending its relationship with EU allies “into a downward spiral” that would only benefit shared adversaries.

Trump announced planned tariffs this weekend on eight countries that sent small numbers of ‍military personnel to Greenland last week, following the U.S. president’s repeated statements that he wanted to take over Denmark’s vast Arctic island. The Trump administration has talked about acquiring Greenland, and some White House officials have stated that military options were not being ruled out to seize the island.

Those statements have continued even in the face of sustained resistance and negativity from Greenland and Denmark and its allies, and public polling in the U.S. has indicated Trump’s ambitions may not be shared by a majority of Americans.

Trump said the tariffs of 10 per cent would go into effect on Feb. 1 and rise to 25 per cent on June 1.

“In politics as in business — a deal is a deal and when friends shake hands, it must mean something,” said von der Leyen, referring to the trade deal the EU and U.S. struck last summer.

Social media flurry

Trump’s threats have sparked outrage and a flurry of diplomatic activity across Europe, as leaders consider possible countermeasures, including retaliatory tariffs and the first-ever use of the European Union’s anti-coercion instrument.

The U.S. president shared several bellicose social media posts early Tuesday, and said there was “no going back” on his goal to control Greenland. One post Trump shared including a picture of a meeting with European leaders last year at the Oval Office, but with what appears to be an edited map on display in which the land masses of Canada and Greenland are depicted with American stars and stripes.

Another post seemed designed to damage French President Emmanuel Macron, who has clashed with Trump on Greenland and turned down his request to join a board to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza. Trump shared a screenshot of a private message between the leaders, wherein Macron told Trump he did not ​understand what the U.S. president was “doing on Greenland.”

Trump’s replies to Macron, if they existed, were ‍not part of ⁠the screenshot that he posted on his Truth ​Social account early on Tuesday.

Macron, speaking in English while addressing a Davos audience, said that Europeans “prefer respect to bullies” and that it was staggering the ⁠bloc even had to consider ​using its anti-coercion instrument against the U.S.

“Europe has very strong tools now, and we have to use them when we are not respected, and when the rules of the game are not respected,” said Macron.

Trump said in another post he had spoken to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and that he would meet with unspecified European leaders this week in Davos.

Separately, the EU is holding a meeting on Greenland on Thursday in Brussels.

Denmark prepared to talk

The second Trump administration’s aggressive statements have caused confusion and consternation, as a 1951 agreement between the U.S. and Denmark gives Washington the right to move around freely and construct military bases in Greenland, as long as Denmark and Greenland are notified.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen reiterated on Monday the government was open to discussing those kind of issues as “pragmatic, cold-blooded Scandinavian people.” Denmark supported the U.S. through NATO after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, deploying troops to Afghanistan.

But Trump and several members of his administration have questioned Denmark’s centuries-old territorial claim.

The island is strategically located between Europe and North America, making it a critical site for the U.S. ballistic missile defence system for decades. Its mineral wealth also aligns with Washington’s ambition to reduce reliance on China.

The U.S. military maintains a permanent presence at Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule airbase) in northwest Greenland. As the world’s largest island with a population of only 57,000 people, Greenland is not an independent member of NATO but is covered by Denmark’s membership in the Western alliance.

Von der Leyen in her speech said that Europe must increase its independence in the face of what she described as seismic change in international relations, including improving security ties with partners she named as including Canada, Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Sergei Lavrov ⁠said Russia had no interest ​in interfering in Greenland’s ​affairs and that Washington knew ‍that Moscow itself had no plans ‍to take ⁠control of the island. But Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, also said that Greenland was not “a natural part” of Denmark.

The other countries subject to the new Trump tariff threats are Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Speaking on the sidelines of Davos, California Gov. Gavin Newsom urged European leaders to stand up to Trump.