U.S. officials told NATO allies Tuesday to keep an open mind and avoid trade escalation as President Trump flew to Switzerland to cajole European powers into accepting his annexation of Greenland.
Mr. Trump refused to say how far he would go to pressure allies over Greenland. “You’ll find out,” he said ahead of a series of scheduled meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“I think things are going to work out very well,” he said during a surprise visit to the White House briefing room.
Still, Mr. Trump will face a hostile, or at least befuddled, crowd at the posh gathering of business and political power brokers.
European leaders said Tuesday that the world is backsliding into a might-makes-right system and that cycles of geopolitical and economic upheaval have been counterproductive. Mr. Trump is weighing new tariffs on eight European nations over their defense of Denmark’s control of Greenland.
“I’m sure I’m very happily awaited for,” Mr. Trump quipped during the briefing, which marked the anniversary of his inauguration.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union would be “unflinching, united and proportional” in its response to any trade crackdown from Mr. Trump.
“We consider the people of the United States not just our allies but our friends. And plunging us into a downward spiral would only aid the very adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of the strategic landscape,” she said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe might be forced to use its “trade bazooka,” or anti-coercion mechanisms, to impose tariffs or trade restrictions on the U.S. or limit foreign investment.
He warned global leaders to avoid “an endless accumulation of new tariffs,” a not-so-subtle warning to Mr. Trump.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney supported his European friends in defending Greenland, an Arctic island of about 56,000 people.
“We stand firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully support their unique right to determine Greenland’s future,” he said to applause.
Mr. Trump argues that Danish control of Greenland is not a sufficient deterrent to powers such as China and Russia, which are increasing their presence in the Arctic.
The president plans to lay out his case Wednesday at the Davos meetings, although his pressure campaign is sparking furious protests in Copenhagen and Greenland and raising questions about the future of the 80-year-old NATO alliance.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged foreign leaders to take a deep breath and listen to Mr. Trump.
He said Mr. Trump wants to acquire Greenland to “prevent a conflict,” rather than risk a full-blown war after a foreign incursion.
“Do not retaliate,” Mr. Bessent told European leaders during an interview on Fox Business’ “Mornings With Maria” from Davos. “Have an open mind.”
European leaders say Mr. Trump is increasingly antagonistic and they need a coordinated response.
Ahead of his travel, Mr. Trump posted doctored social media posts that showed the president speaking to European leaders in the Oval Office with American flags overlaid on a map of Canada and Greenland.
Another post depicted him planting an American flag on Greenland with Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Mr. Trump also shared a private message in which Mr. Macron pleaded with the U.S. leader to have dinner with him in Paris to forge a path forward.
“I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland,” Mr. Macron said.
In another private message, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised Mr. Trump on other foreign matters and said he was “committed to finding a way forward on Greenland.”
Later Tuesday, Mr. Trump downplayed rifts with Mr. Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over issues such as Greenland.
“When I’m around, they treat me very nicely,” Mr. Trump said.
Wall Street investors aren’t as bullish about the situation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed more than 800 points, or 1.7%, on Tuesday while the S&P 500 slid 2% and the Nasdaq composite dropped 2.5%. Stocks plummeted because of Mr. Trump’s threat to impose new tariffs on eight European countries over their resistance to his Greenland plans.
The president said new tariffs would affect Britain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland. They would start at 10% in February and could rise to 25% by June if the U.S. does not acquire Greenland.
Complicating matters, Mr. Trump caused a stir by telling Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of peace” after he didn’t receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
The message, confirmed by Mr. Gahr Store on Monday as authentic, seemed to link the Nobel snub to Mr. Trump’s plans to impose sweeping tariffs on NATO allies that oppose his plans to purchase Greenland.
Mr. Gahr Store said Oslo has no control over who wins the Nobel. Mr. Trump was not convinced.
“Don’t let anyone tell you that Norway doesn’t control the shots,” Mr. Trump said Tuesday. “It’s in Norway. Norway controls the shots.”
Mr. Trump is scheduled to deliver a special address to the Davos forum Wednesday before meeting with world leaders individually.
Mr. Bessent said the president is trying to finalize a trade deal with the European Union despite Mr. Trump’s latest threats.
Ms. von der Leyen agreed that a deal is a deal, though she said ongoing threats to Greenland would require a response.
It is unclear, however, whether Mr. Trump’s power to unilaterally impose tariffs on individual nations or nation blocs will survive a Supreme Court challenge.
The justices will decide soon whether Mr. Trump overstepped his powers by invoking a 1977 law to impose nation-by-nation tariffs at the heart of his overseas trade deals.
Mr. Bessent said he doesn’t think the Supreme Court will strike down the president’s signature economic policy.
Mr. Trump said he will find other ways to pressure countries over Greenland if the Supreme Court rules against his preferred route for imposing tariffs.
“We’ll have to use something else,” Mr. Trump said. “What we’re doing now is the best, the strongest, the fastest, the easiest — the least complicated.”
