The Greenland crisis is escalating, and Trump's appearance in Davos threatens a showdown with the Europeans. But while Italy appeases and the Eastern Europeans tend to stay out of it, Paris is belligerent.

I have had the opportunity to see and read that letter from President Trump's response to the PM of Norway but also the president of Finland who traditionally gets on really well with Donald Trump and the reply was not just about Greenland but also about the Nobel Prize. Seems extraordinary that Donald Trump don’t know much about the Nobel Prize Awards, it's not Norway that decides who wins the Nobel Prize where Donald Trump was not showing that he is the leader of the free world, the letter sounds like this is the moanings of a petulant child talking about “we had a boat that landed there too, we should have the rights as well”, really disturbing lines as Trump no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace, that's going to be hugely worrying.

Make no mistakes, don’t forget, just a couple of weeks ago various leaders of NATO countries were saying there's absolutely no way the US would think about invading Greenland. This letter makes them think twice and there is then another line which I think will have NATO leaders really feeling like they're banging their heads against a brick wool is this idea that Denmark can't protect Greenland.

If I am not mistaken, the EU foreign policy is that they're not asking Denmark to protect Greenland alone, they're saying this can be done as part of NATO. The US is obviously a key part they're not saying you can't play a role in it, they're saying, you should be playing a big role in this because you're a key member of NATO. It is a mystery all around Trump what he wants.

If Trump wants more bases, it's highly likely you can have them. But is Trump really serious about security? If you're so worried about security, why have your troops been reduced from thousands to a few 100.  Not to mention if you want to have access to rare earth and other precious minerals which US needs desperately, you can apply for the permits.

So, the EU leaders are clearly saying you don't need to do this alone, it doesn't need to be US versus Russia and China, we can all do it under NATO and be safer together. The EU leaders they all agree that the Arctic does need more security that's why they sent this exploratory mission last week that antagonise Donald Trump and led him to announce these potential tariffs on the eight countries but the message to the Trump really aren't getting through it seems, this message that we're not against you, were trying to do this with you just.

However, Trump would not be Trump to start talking his little bit more about the sanctions against the EU with new Tariffs to be imposed like100% on French wines. Luckily the EU gave Trump a retaliation figure of €93 billion. Last year has been really tough at times for many EU leaders and they've had to bite their tongue when it comes to dealing with the US president particularly for example the way that he seems to have given Russia preferential treatment the way he's treated President Putin in comparison to the rough treatment that we see for president Zelensky time and again but I think what has happened now with these tariffs is just a bit too much.

Enough is enough, and EU leaders frankly in many corners are talking about bullying and they have to stand up to bullies. At a news conference from the German vice chancellor and he said that he has no interest in an escalation, we're ready to find solutions, we're offering our hand but we are not prepared to let ourselves be blackmailed. Similar messaging coming out from Sweden.

So what can the EU do? They don't want to pick a fight with the US. They have a huge trading interest with the US. They are key allies in NATO so the first thing they're going to be looking to do I assume is diplomacy and trying to send out some answers about what might happen through traditional Trump whisperers.

For example, the Germans are planning to have a meeting with Trump either on Wednesday or Thursday all of that behind the scenes. If whispering fails then there's an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders on Thursday, I assume they'll talk about next steps like unfreezing the €93 billion tariff package which has been frozen since July 2025 but could come back online against the US from the 6th of February 2026. Another option is the so-called “trade bazooka” this is something that Emmanuel Macron the French president's been talking about over the weekend this is the anti-coercion mechanism it's never been used before in the EU but if they unleashed this then essentially it would put restrictions on things like investments banking access to markets.

This would be really painful, these are serious measures and they would hit the EU as well. but I do think many now are feeling that they've hit their red lines but they have to stand up because frankly if they don't what lies in front of them, they are letting a key ally bully them. For Trump all are fools just he is superior with everything doesn’t matter if this are signs of “new colonialism”.

Trump blusters and threatens – even against his allies. In a post on his online platform, he published an edited image showing Canada and Greenland in the colours of the US flag.