After US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was sworn in last week, he made a flurry of calls to key allies which gave some indication as to where the second Donald Trump administration’s priorities lie.
Advertisement
The first four calls were to Indo-Pacific states, followed by a smattering of Middle Eastern ministers, then more Asian partners and – eventually, in 15th place – Poland as the first of the European nations.
In Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s efforts to speak with Trump have gone unreturned. Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, invited Rubio to a meeting of the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers, but got no reply.
Rather than engage with the EU on its priority issue of the Ukraine war, Trump has instead fixated on the huge island in the continent’s north, Greenland, a self-ruled territory of Denmark.
The episode is a reminder of how difficult the mercurial Trump will be to deal with over the next four years.
Advertisement
He has said repeatedly that he wants to annex Greenland and has refused to rule out the use of military force. Trump reportedly told Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on a telephone call this month that he was serious about taking control of the island, which is rich in natural resources, and which the US president says is key to national security.