Trump and Europe are increasingly quarreling over Greenland. What the media is writing

US President Donald Trump has made it clear that he wants Greenland because of the refusal to award him the Nobel Peace Prize. He will hold a meeting on this issue at the Davos forum, but Europe already fears that its alliance with the United States is coming to an end. How the world's media reacts to the quarrel between Washington and Brussels is in the Izvestia digest.

Associated Press: Trump linked claims to Greenland with lack of Nobel Peace Prize

Trump linked his tough stance on Greenland to last year's decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize. He told Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Garu Stera in a text message published on Monday that he no longer felt "an obligation to think exclusively about the world." The White House confirmed the authenticity of the message.

The Norwegian leader said that Trump's message was a response to a letter previously sent on his behalf and on behalf of Finnish President Alexander Stubb, in which they expressed their disagreement with the announcement of tariffs, pointed out the need for de-escalation and suggested holding a telephone conversation between the three leaders.

Financial Times: Trump will hold a meeting in Greenland as part of the Davos Forum

Trump said he had agreed to a meeting with "various parties" on the Greenland issue at the World Economic Forum in Davos after a "very good" phone conversation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. At the same time, he confirmed his intention to take the island under American control.

Trump also posted screenshots of text messages, presumably from Rutte, in which he praises him for his "incredible" achievements in Syria and says he is "ready to look for ways to solve the Greenland problem." A day earlier, Denmark announced that it had sent a "significant number" of soldiers and the head of its army to its autonomous territory, in addition to the more than 200 military personnel already present there.

The New York Times: Trump pushes the US-European alliance to the abyss

What will happen to an 80-year-old diplomatic alliance when its leading power threatens a military invasion of one of the participating countries, launches an economic war against the others, and vows to cultivate political and cultural resistance to their governments? That's the question being asked in capitals across Europe as leaders rush to respond to Trump's rapidly escalating campaign to acquire Greenland.

According to them, this is no longer an alliance created primarily to promote the interests of like-minded democratic countries. Now their relationship follows exclusively the conditions of Trump, who uses the levers of influence provided by American power to force Europeans to please his whims. There is a consensus in most of Europe on the need to build up economic and military capabilities to reduce dependence on the United States. But it will take years, if not decades.

Reuters: talks about the sale of American assets resumed in Europe

Despite the development and liquidity of the American capital markets (the Treasury bond market alone is estimated at $30 trillion), the United States is vulnerable to the outflow of foreign investment. According to Deutsche Bank, European countries are the largest creditors of the United States, holding $8 trillion in stocks and bonds, almost twice as much as the rest of the world combined.

Analysts believe that the EU authorities can do little to force European private investors to sell dollar assets, and can only try to encourage investment in euros. The US dollar, which fell by almost 10% against other currencies in 2025, has stabilized in recent months. At the same time, although American stocks showed strong growth, helped by hopes for the development of artificial intelligence, they lagged behind global stock markets.

Protest reaction: The EU is trying to develop a unified response to the US threats over Greenland

What hinders the common approach of the Europeans and what levers do the parties have?

Politico: Franco-German tensions threaten EU's opposition to Trump

While Europe needs a unified Franco-German pair to counter the growing threat that Trump poses to Greenland, relations between Paris and Berlin are straining. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz promises to form a united front with French President Emmanuel Macron in the coming days, thereby activating the alliance on both sides of the Rhine, which is often called the engine of the EU, in order to achieve a breakthrough in negotiations with Trump.

The contrast between the French and German leaders in their approach to Trump was also evident in their reaction to the threat of tariffs. Macron, who often draws on the militant Gaullist tradition of independence from the United States, immediately vowed to fight back against Trump using the EU's trade arsenal. A milder Merz, a staunch Atlanticist, fanned the prospect of persuading the US president to step back from the brink. While Macron raises the issue of using the EU's trade "bazooka" to retaliate against Trump, Germany's position remains unclear.