LONDON (AP) – No more fawning praise. No more polite solutions and old-style diplomacy. And no one is calling Donald Trump “daddy” now.
The European leaders who took a year to figure out how to deal with an American President strengthened in his second term came closer to saying “no”, or something diplomatically like it, to his lack of respect for international law and his demands for their territory. Trump’s promise to take over Greenland and punish any country that resists, seems to have been the crucible.
“Red lines” were seen as being crossed this year when Trump suddenly raised his claim that the US “absolutely” wants to rule Greenland, the semi-autonomous region that is part of NATO ally Denmark. That pushed even the most mild-mannered diplomats to issue strong warnings against Trump, who would have failed with royal treatment and fawning praise.
“Britain will not give” its support for Greenland’s sovereignty, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. Several of the continent’s leaders said that “Europe will not be blackmailed” over Greenland.
“Threats have no place among allies,” said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
The tough diplomatic talk about last week’s showdown in Davos, Switzerland, wasn’t the only factor putting pressure on Trump. US congressional elections are approaching in November amid a sinking stock market and withering approval ratings. European leaders are also not the first to stand in the way of Trump during his second term — see Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
But the dramatic change among Europe’s elite, from “appreciating” Trump to challenging him, offers a hint in the ongoing effort among some nations to say “no” to a president who hates to listen and is known to retaliate.
“We want a piece of ice for the protection of the world, and they won’t give it,” Trump told his audience at the World Economic Forum. “You can say yes, and we’ll be very appreciative. Or you can say no, and we’ll remember.”
Lesson 1: Speak as one
In recent days, Europe has offered abundant refusals to go along with Trump, from his demand of Greenland and joining his new Peace Board and even for what Canada Mark Carney called the “fiction” that the alliance functions for the benefit of any country more than the strongest. The moment marked a unity among European leaders that they had struggled to achieve for a year.
“When Europe is not divided, when we are together and when we are also clear and strong in our willingness to stand up for ourselves, then the results will show,” said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. “I think we learned something.”
Federiksen herself gave an example of the learning curve. A year ago, she and other leaders were on their heels and mostly responded to the Trump administration. She found it necessary to tell reporters in February 2025, “We’re not a bad ally,” after Vice President JD Vance said Denmark “isn’t being a good ally.”
Trump is transactional. He has little use for diplomacy and no “need (for) international law,” he told The New York Times this month. There was the disconnect between the typically collaborative European leaders and the Republican president when he came back to the White House saying he wanted the United States to take over Greenland, Panama and maybe even Canada.
“In Trump’s first term, Europe didn’t know what to expect and tried to deal with him 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 join the club,” said Mark Shanahan, associate professor of political engagement at the University of Surrey.
“It’s very difficult for other leaders to deal with each other through the niceties of a rules-based system and diplomatic conversation,” Shanahan said. “It’s hard for them to change.”
Five months after Trump’s inauguration last year, with his Greenland threat in the air, European leaders had gotten their heads around the Trump administration enough to convene a meeting of NATO nations in the Netherlands. NATO members have agreed to contribute more and have widely credited Trump with forcing them to modernize.
Secretary General Mark Rutte, known as the “Trump Whisperer” of the coalition, compared the role of the president who breaks up the war between Iran and Israel with a “dad” who intervenes in a fight in the schoolyard.
Lesson 2: Consider saying no — and make choices accordingly
Traditional diplomacy exists to preserve the possibilities of working together. This often means avoiding saying a flat “no” if possible. But Trump’s Greenland gambit was such a strong threat from one NATO member that the Prime Minister of Greenland actually said the word.
“Enough is enough,” Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a statement shortly after Trump’s remarks on January 5. “There is no more pressure. There are no more hints. No more fantasies about annexation.”
That played a part in setting the tone. The Danish leader said that any such invasion of Greenland would mark the end of NATO and urged the members of the alliance to take the threat seriously.
They did, issuing statement after statement denying 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 — Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland. The rate, he wrote, will rise to 25% on June 1 if there is no agreement for “the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland” from the United States.
Lesson 3: Reject Trump’s superpower paradigm
Trump’s bellicose words ignited a fire among leaders arriving in Davos. But they seemed to recognize, too, that Trump’s wider world left him vulnerable.
“Trump was in a pretty weak position because he has a lot of other looming problems going on,” domestically, including an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision on his tariffs and a backlash against immigration raids in Minnesota, said Duncan Snidal, professor emeritus of international relations at the University of Oxford and the University of Chicago.
Canada’s Carney said no by reframing the question not as about Greenland, but about whether it was time for European countries to build power together against a “bully” – and his answer was yes.
Without mentioning the United States or Trump, Carney spoke bluntly: Europe, he said, should reject the “coercion” and “exploitation” of the great power. It is time to accept, he said, that a “split” has occurred in the alliance, not a transition.
Snidel maintained that he did not say that the split was very new, and although it may be difficult to repair in the future, doing so under adjusted rules remains in the interests of the United States and Europeans beyond the Trump presidency. “It’s too good a deal not to do it all,” said Snidel.
Lesson 4: Be careful
Before Trump stepped away from the podium in Davos, he had started to back down.
He canceled his threat to use “force” to take over Greenland. Soon after, he reversed himself fully, announcing “the framework” for a deal that would make his threat of tariffs unnecessary.
Trump told Fox Business that “we will have total access to Greenland,” under the “framework,” without revealing what that might mean.
Frederiksen hit the alert button again. In a statement, she said, “We cannot negotiate on our sovereignty.”
In other words: “No.”