ALBAWABA- French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Tuesday that the international order is sliding toward a “world without rules,” where international law is ignored, and imperial ambitions are returning, in a thinly veiled rebuke of U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed push to acquire Greenland.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Macron rejected what he described as “new imperialism and new colonialism,” urging global leaders not to “waste time on crazy ideas” and to uphold collective governance amid mounting global conflicts.
While he did not name Trump directly, his remarks were widely seen as a response to Washington’s increasingly confrontational stance over the Danish autonomous territory.
Trump has insisted there is “no going back” on acquiring Greenland, arguing it is vital to U.S. national security to counter growing Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic.
In recent days, he published private messages from Macron on Truth Social, including one in which the French leader said, “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland,” portraying the exchange as evidence of European resistance.
The dispute has intensified after Trump threatened punitive tariffs on European countries backing Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland.
Under the plan, tariffs would begin at 10% on February 1 and rise to 25% by June on imports from Denmark, France, Germany, and others. Reports also suggest Trump has warned of tariffs of up to 200% on French goods if Paris continues to support Copenhagen.
Macron called the threats “unacceptable,” warning the European Union could respond using its anti-coercion instrument, potentially restricting U.S. firms’ access to European markets.
Tensions have spilled beyond diplomacy. The EU convened emergency ambassadorial meetings, while eight countries issued a joint statement warning of a “dangerous downward spiral.” In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, thousands of protesters rallied against any attempt at annexation.
A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation traveled to Copenhagen to reaffirm transatlantic alliances, even as opinion polls show limited public support in the United States for the use of force over Greenland.
Macron linked the Greenland dispute to the war in Ukraine, insisting that threats or economic pressure would not weaken European backing for Kyiv against Russian aggression. He warned that unilateral moves over Greenland risk undermining NATO cohesion and eroding the norms that have governed international relations for decades.
