President-elect Donald Trump has tossed expansionist rhetoric at US allies and potential adversaries with arguments that the frontiers of American power need to be extended into Canada and the Danish territory of Greenland, and southward to include the Panama Canal.
Advertisement
Trump’s suggestions that international borders can be redrawn – by force if necessary – are particularly inflammatory in Europe. His words run contrary to the argument European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are trying to impress on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But many European leaders – who’ve learned to expect the unexpected from Trump and have seen that actions do not always follow his words – have been guarded in their response, with some taking a nothing-to-see-here view rather than vigorously defend European Union member Denmark.
Analysts, though, say that even words can damage US-European relations ahead of Trump’s second presidency.
Several officials in Europe – where governments depend on US trade, energy, investment, technology, and defence cooperation for security – emphasised their belief that Trump has no intention of marching troops into Greenland.
Advertisement
“I think we can exclude that the United States in the coming years will try to use force to annex territory that interests it,” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said.