Trump Escalates Tensions With European Allies With Greenland and Gaza Efforts

President Trump’s bellicose demands about Greenland and participation in his “board of peace” are deepening worries about the fate of the trans-Atlantic alliance.

President Trump on Tuesday escalated tensions with the United States’ longest allies, meeting diplomatic overtures with mocking online posts and threats of economic levies and territorial expansion, just hours before he was set to meet with European counterparts in the Swiss Alps.

Mr. Trump warned that he would impose a new round of tariffs against European nations unless they acquiesced to his demands that the United States take over Greenland. He invited President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who European leaders have sought to isolate to counter his invasion of Ukraine, to join his new “board of peace” to reconstruct Gaza. He shared a post on social media that claimed China and Russia were simply “boogeymen” and that the United Nations and NATO were “the real threat.”

The president even posted the private text messages of European leaders trying to strike conciliatory notes, and shared a computer-generated image of himself planting a flag on Greenland. “GREENLAND, US TERRITORY, EST. 2026,” read a wooden placard in the image.

And when asked how far he was willing to go to acquire Greenland, Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House: “You’ll find out.”

The bellicose statements and threats, just days before Mr. Trump was set to meet European leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, amounted to an extraordinary provocation of some of the United States’ closest allies.

The president’s aggressive posture has effectively transformed what traditionally has been a brainstorming session among leaders of the world’s wealthiest countries into a showdown between a president emboldened over his power on the global stage and European heads of state concerned that the trans-Atlantic diplomatic alignment may be on the brink.

“The Europeans are — they’re perplexed,” said Ian Bremmer, the president and founder of Eurasia Group, a leading global political risk research and consulting firm. “They’re worried.”

Mr. Bremmer, who is attending the Davos conference, added: “The feeling of crisis that this could actually be — unless Trump is prepared to back down — that this could reflect the end of NATO.”

Mr. Trump has so far refused to say — or rule out — whether he would use military force to take control of Greenland. But even before he boarded Air Force One on Tuesday night to travel to Switzerland, his penchant for unpredictability loomed over Davos.

Over the weekend, Mr. Trump linked his push for Greenland to not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway’s prime minister in a text message that he no longer felt obliged to “think purely of Peace.”

“I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States,” Mr. Trump said in the message.

And on Tuesday, Mr. Trump questioned whether NATO could be trusted to come to the aid of the United States, even though the alliance has only invoked Article 5 of its founding treaty, which holds that an attack on one ally is considered an attack on all, once — after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Mr. Trump’s threats of tariffs to pressure European leaders to agree to a sale of Greenland has prompted the allies, including some that will be in attendance at Davos, to contemplate retaliating with economic penalties.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in Davos on Monday that it would be “unwise” for the European leaders to do so.

Mr. Trump said on Tuesday that he had “a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland” and that he thought he would “work something out where NATO is going to be very happy and where we’re going to be very happy.”

World leaders in Davos appeared to acknowledge a new reality with the United States: that under Mr. Trump, they can no longer rely on a longtime ally. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, suggested Tuesday that the European Union would take steps to bolster its security in light of the crisis, and would look at “how to strengthen our security partnerships with partners such as the U.K., Canada, Norway, Iceland and others.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada put it bluntly at the summit on Tuesday. “Let me be direct: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” he said.

He added: “Great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion.”

President Emmanuel Macron of France described “a shift towards a world without rules where international law is trampled” and “imperial ambitions are resurfacing.” The United States, he said, had openly aimed to “weaken and subordinate Europe.”

Mr. Macron said he would respond by pushing for “more sovereignty and more autonomy for the Europeans.”

Throughout his political career, Mr. Trump has lashed out at longtime allies, imposed tariffs on trading partners and brushed aside the post-World War II global order. But emboldened by the U.S. military capture of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, Mr. Trump now appears determined to go further and pursue a territorial expansion that could doom the nearly 80-year-old diplomatic alliance that has been the centerpiece of a united Western front.

Mr. Trump is trying to force a sale of Greenland even though the majority Indigenous territory has said that it is not for purchase. Its leader said last week that Greenlanders would rather stay part of the Danish kingdom, its former colonizer, than join the Americans. Mr. Trump has said that obtaining Greenland is a national security imperative, and top administration officials have expressed desire for the territory’s natural resources.

When asked about Greenlanders not wanting to become part of the United States, Mr. Trump said: “When I speak to them, I’m sure they’ll be thrilled.”

Last week, NATO allies deployed military personnel to Greenland in a gesture of solidarity. The question now is what will follow.

“There are people here who are openly talking about their expectation that the president will be sending military forces to Greenland,” said Michael Froman, a Davos attendee and the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, a U.S. think thank. “That is an option that people think is very much on the table.”

Some European leaders did not wait for Mr. Trump’s arrival to try to dissuade him from such an escalation. Hours before he boarded a flight to the summit, Mr. Trump posted a private text message from Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary general, who sought to flatter the U.S. president, calling him “dear Donald” and telling him that he was “committed to finding a way forward on Greenland.”

“Thank you to Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO!” Mr. Trump posted in response.

Mr. Trump was less gracious to Mr. Macron, using the opportunity to pressure France to join his “board of peace” for Gaza. Mr. Macron does not plan to join, according to a senior French official.

Asked on Monday about France’s refusal, Mr. Trump threatened to impose a 200 percent tariff on French wine, one of the country’s best-known exports.

Online, Mr. Trump posted private messages from Mr. Macron, who called him “my friend” but told him, “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland.” Mr. Macron offered to host Mr. Trump for a meeting with other world leaders in Paris after the summit in Davos, and then a dinner before he returns to Washington.

Early Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump wrote on social media that he had agreed to meet with foreign leaders in Davos to discuss Greenland.

“There can be no going back,” Mr. Trump said. “On that, everyone agrees!”

It also appeared to be what some leaders in Davos had feared.

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