President Donald Trump’s posturing over Greenland has irrevocably changed the transatlantic relationship, even after he backed away Wednesday from his threats of a US takeover of the Danish autonomous territory, European officials told CNN.
One European diplomat, speaking anonymously, described the last week as a “whirlwind of absurdity that damages transatlantic relations, distracts from Ukraine and makes China and Russia very happy.”
Tensions between the United States and its European allies, bound together under the collective security umbrella of NATO, reached a fever pitch last weekend when Trump threatened to impose tariffs on the nations opposing his ambitions to annex Greenland, a vast, strategically important Arctic island that has belonged to Denmark for centuries.
Denmark and its European allies refused to yield to Trump’s demands and considered deploying trade weapons of their own in retaliation, making for a strained atmosphere at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week.
Trump ruled out using military force to annex Greenland in his keynote speech at Davos on Wednesday, and he went on to drop his threatened tariffs and announce “the framework of a future deal” over the island after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Continue reading the complete article on the original source
