Europe’s leaders seek ways to speak with one voice against Trump

LONDON (AP) — There is no more flattering compliment. No more polite solutions and old fashioned diplomacy. And no one calls Donald Trump “Dad” anymore.

European leaders, who have been struggling for a year to figure out how to deal with an emboldened US president in his second term, have come close to saying “no” or diplomatically to the disregard of international law and his demands for their territory. Trump’s promise to seize Greenland and punish any country that resists appears to have been crucified.

“Red lines” were believed to have been crossed this year when Trump suddenly revived his demand that the United States “fully” govern Greenland, a semi-autonomous region that is part of NATO ally Denmark. It prompted even the most mild-mannered diplomats to issue sharp warnings against Trump, whom they praised for his royal demeanor and adulation.

“Britain will not give its support for Greenland’s sovereignty”, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. Several of the continent’s leaders said “Europe will not be blackmailed” over Greenland.

“Threats have no place among allies,” said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Storey.

The tough diplomatic negotiations surrounding last week’s showdown in Davos, Switzerland, weren’t the only factor putting pressure on Trump. US congressional elections are approaching in November amid a plunging stock market and falling approval ratings. European leaders aren’t the first to stand in Trump’s way during his second term, either — see Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

But the dramatic shift among Europe’s elites, from “appeasing” Trump to defying him, offers clues to the ongoing effort among some nations to learn how the president is known to hear “no” and retaliate.

“We want a piece of ice to protect the world, and they’re not going to give it,” Trump told his audience at the World Economic Forum. “You can say yes, and we’ll be very appreciative. Or you can say no, and we’ll remember.”

Lesson 1: Speak like one

In recent days, Europe has largely refused to go along with Trump, from his demand for Greenland and to join his new Board of Peace and Canada’s Mark Carney called “the story” that the alliance works to the advantage of any country more than the most powerful. The moment marked the unity among European leaders that they had struggled to achieve for a year.

“When Europe is not divided, when we stand together and when we are clear and strong that we are willing to stand up for ourselves, then the results will show,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. “I think we learned something.”

Federiksen himself exemplified the learning curve. A year ago, he and other leaders were on their heels and mostly responding to the Trump administration. He felt the need to tell reporters in February 2025, “We are not a bad ally,” after Vice President J.D. Vance said Denmark was “not a good ally.”

Trump is transactional. He has little use for diplomacy and “no need for international law,” he told The New York Times this month. There was a rift between the usually supportive European leaders and the Republican president when he returned to the White House to say he wanted the U.S. to seize Greenland, Panama and perhaps even Canada.

“During Trump’s first term, Europe didn’t know what to expect and tried to deal with him using the old rules of diplomacy, if they kept talking to him in measured terms, he would change his behavior and move to the club,” said Mark Shanahan, associate professor of political engagement at the University of Surrey.

“It’s very difficult for other leaders to deal with each other through a rules-based system and diplomatic negotiations,” Shanahan said. “It’s hard to change them.”

Five months after Trump’s inauguration last year, fueled by his Greenland threat, European leaders gathered their heads around the Trump administration to ax a meeting of NATO nations in the Netherlands. NATO members agreed to contribute more and widely credited Trump with forcing them to modernize.

Secretary General Mark Rutte, known as the coalition’s “Trump Whisperer,” compared the president’s role in calming the Iran-Israel war to a “father” intervening in a schoolyard fight.

Lesson 2: Consider saying no – and choose accordingly

Traditional diplomacy exists to preserve the possibilities of working together. This means avoiding saying a flat “no” whenever possible. But Trump’s Greenland Gambit was such a strong threat from one NATO member to another that Greenland’s prime minister actually said the word.

“Enough is enough,” Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a statement shortly after Trump’s comments on Jan. 5. “No more pressure, no more hints, no more fantasizing about mergers.”

It played a role in setting the tone. The Danish leader said any attack on Greenland would mean the end of NATO and urged members of the alliance to take the threat seriously.

They did this by issuing a statement rejecting the new threat. Trump last weekend threatened to impose a 10% import tax within a month on goods from eight European nations — Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland — from a golf course in Florida. The rate will climb to 25% on June 1 if the United States does not strike a deal for “the full and total purchase of Greenland,” he wrote.

Lesson 3: Reject Trump’s great-power paradigm

Trump’s fighting words ignited a fire among leaders arriving in Davos. But they also seem to recognize that the wider Trump world has weakened him.

“Trump is in a very vulnerable position because he has so many other issues going on,” domestically, including the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision on his tariffs and his response to an immigration raid in Minnesota, said Duncan Sniddle, professor emeritus of international relations at the University of Oxford and the University of Chicago.

Canada’s Carney repeatedly said no to the question, not about Greenland, but whether it was time for European countries to unite and build strength against the “threat” – and his answer was yes.

Without naming the US or Trump, Carney spoke bluntly: Europe, he said, must reject the “coercion” and “exploitation” of great powers. It was time to admit, he said, that there had been a “rupture” in the coalition, not a transition.

On the one hand, Snidel pointed out, the rupture was so new, and while it may be difficult to repair in the future, doing so under adjusted rules remains in American and European interests beyond a Trump presidency. “It’s great not having to deal with all of that,” Snidel said.

Lesson 4: Be careful

Before Trump walked away from the podium in Davos, he had begun to backtrack.

He canceled his threat to use “force” to seize Greenland. Not long after, he reversed himself completely, announcing a “framework” of a deal that made his tariff threat unnecessary.

Trump told Fox Business that “we will have full access to Greenland under the ‘framework,'” without disclosing what that might mean.

Frederickson hit the warning button again. In a statement, she said, “We cannot negotiate on our sovereignty.”

In other words: “No.”