LONDON (AP) 鈥� No more fawning praise. No more polite workarounds and old-style diplomacy. And no one is calling Donald Trump now.
European leaders who to figure out how to deal with an in his second term edged closer to saying 鈥渘o,鈥� or something diplomatically like it, to his disregard for international law and his demands for their territory. Trump’s vow to take over Greenland and , seems to have been the crucible.
“Red lines” were deemed to have been crossed this year when Trump abruptly revived his demand that the United States 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� must rule Greenland, the semiautonomous region that is part of NATO ally Denmark. That pushed even the most mild-mannered diplomats to issue sharp warnings against Trump, whom they had flattered and .
鈥淏ritain will not yield” its support for Greenland’s sovereignty, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. Several of the continent’s leaders said 鈥淓urope will not be blackmailed鈥� over Greenland.
鈥淭hreats have no place among allies,鈥� said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr St酶re.
The tough diplomatic talk around the showdown last week in Davos, Switzerland, was not the only factor pressuring Trump. U.S. congressional elections are approaching in November amid a and . European leaders also are not the first to stand in Trump’s way during his second term 鈥� see .
But the dramatic turnabout among Europe’s elite, from 鈥渁ppeasing鈥� Trump to defying him, offers clues in the ongoing effort among some nations of how to say 鈥渘o鈥� to a president who hates hearing it and is known to retaliate.
鈥淲e want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won鈥檛 give it,鈥� Trump told his audience at the World Economic Forum. 鈥淵ou can say yes, and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no, and we will remember.鈥�
Lesson 1: Speak as one
In recent days, Europe offered abundant refusals to go along with Trump, from his Greenland demand and and even to what Canada’s Mark Carney called the 鈥渇iction鈥� that the alliance functions for the benefit of any country more than the most powerful. The moment marked a unity among European leaders that they had struggled to achieve for a year.
鈥淲hen Europe is not divided, when we stand together and when we are clear and strong also in our willingness to stand up for ourselves, then the results will show,鈥� Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. 鈥淚 think we have learned something.鈥�
Federiksen herself exemplified the learning curve. A year ago, she and other leaders were on their heels and mostly responding to the Trump administration. She found it necessary to , 鈥淲e are not a bad ally,鈥� after Vice President JD Vance had said Denmark was 鈥渘ot being a good ally.鈥�
Trump is transactional. He has little use for diplomacy and no 鈥渘eed (for) international law,鈥� he told The New York Times this month. Therein lay the disconnect between typically collaborative European leaders and the Republican president when he blazed back into the White House saying he wanted the U.S. to take over Greenland, Panama and perhaps even Canada.
鈥淚n Trump’s first term, Europe didn’t know what to expect and tried to deal with him by using the old rules of diplomacy, with the expectation that, if they kept talking to him in measured terms, that he would change his behavior and move into the club,鈥� said Mark Shanahan, associate professor of political engagement at the University of Surrey,.
鈥淚t’s very hard for other leaders who deal with each other through the niceties of a rules-based system and diplomatic conversation,” Shanahan said. “It is hard for them to change.鈥�
Five months after Trump’s inauguration last year, with his Greenland threat in the air, European leaders had gotten their heads around Trump management enough to pull off a in the Netherlands. NATO members agreed to contribute more and widely gave Trump credit for forcing them to modernize.
Secretary-General Mark Rutte, known as the coalition’s likened the president’s role quieting the Iran-Israel war to a 鈥渄补诲诲测鈥� intervening in a schoolyard brawl.
Lesson 2: Consider saying no 鈥� and make choices accordingly
Traditional diplomacy exists to preserve possibilities of working together. That often means avoiding saying a flat 鈥渘o鈥� if possible. But Trump’s Greenland gambit was so stark a threat from one NATO member to another that Greenland’s prime minister actually said the word.
鈥淓nough,鈥� Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a statement shortly after Trump’s remarks Jan. 5. 鈥淣o more pressure. No more hints. No more fantasies about annexation.鈥�
That played a part in setting the tone. Denmark’s leader said any such invasion of Greenland would and urged alliance members to take the threat seriously.
They did, issuing statement after statement rejecting the renewed threat. Trump responded last weekend from his golf course in Florida with a threat to charge a 10% import tax within a month on goods from eight European nations 鈥� Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland. The rate, he wrote, would climb to 25% on June 1 if no deal was in place for 鈥渢he Complete and Total purchase of Greenland鈥� by the United States.
Lesson 3: Reject Trump’s big-power paradigm
Trump’s fighting words lit a fire among leaders arriving in Davos. But they seemed to recognize, too, that the wider Trump world left him vulnerable.
鈥淭rump was in a fairly weak position because he has a lot of other looming problems going on,鈥� domestically, including an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision and a backlash to , said Duncan Snidal, professor emeritus of international relations at Oxford University and the University of Chicago.
Canada’s Carney said no by reframing the question not as being about Greenland, but about whether it was time for European countries to build power together against a 鈥渂ully” 鈥� and his answer was yes.
Without naming the U.S. or Trump, Carney spoke bluntly: Europe, he said, should reject the big power’s 鈥渃oercion鈥� and 鈥渆xploitation.” It was time to accept, he said, that a 鈥渞upture鈥� in the alliance, not a transition, had occurred.
Unsaid, Snidel pointed out, was that the rupture was very new, and though in the future, doing so under adjusted rules remains in U.S. and European interests beyond Trump’s presidency. 鈥淚t’s too good a deal for all of them not to,鈥� Snidel said.
Lesson 4: Exercise caution
Before Trump stepped away from the podium in Davos, he had begun to back down.
He to use 鈥渇orce鈥� to take over Greenland. Not long after, he announcing 鈥渢he framework” for a deal that would make his tariff threat unnecessary.
Trump told Fox Business that 鈥渨e鈥檙e going to have total access to Greenland,鈥� under the 鈥渇ramework,” without divulging what that might mean.
Frederiksen hit the warning button again. In a statement, she said, 鈥淲e cannot negotiate on our sovereignty.”
In other words: 鈥淣o.鈥�
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