"European leaders have entertained Trump's demands for nearly a year as he has pushed Nato countries to increase their defence spending to 5% of GDP, and threatened to pull US support from Ukraine as part of a peace process that appears to favour Russia. They have also given a muted response to US adventurism abroad including the capture and rendition of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro. The obsequiousness has often played out in public. Various European leaders have vied for the role of Trump whisperer and Nato's secretary general, Mark Rutte, infamously referred to him as daddy at a summit last June."
"But Trump's' repeated and increasingly bellicose demands that Denmark cede or sell him semi-autonomous Greenland has sparked one of the greatest crises for transatlantic partnership in its history and may force Europe to draw a line in the snow. The president's ambition is on the table, the Danish foreign minister, Lars Lkke Rasmussen told Fox News after the talks. Of course we have our red lines. This is 2026, you trade with people but you don't trade people."
"After an hour-long meeting with the US vice-president, JD Vance, and secretary of state, Marco Rubio, Rasmussen and Greenland's foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, stood grim-faced smoking cigarettes outside of the Eisenhower executive building in Washington DC. When it comes to Greenland, the Europeans have found a red line that they really want to stand by, said Kristine Berzina, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund for US defence and transatlantic security."
US President Donald Trump's persistent demands have pressured NATO members to raise defence spending to 5% of GDP and threatened to withdraw US support for Ukraine, appearing to favour Russia. European leaders have often responded with muted acquiescence to US adventurism, including the capture and rendition of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, and publicly sought access to the president. Trump's attempt to acquire Greenland by asking Denmark to cede or sell the semi-autonomous territory has provoked a major transatlantic crisis. Danish officials have declared red lines on sovereignty, and analysts warn the move could fracture NATO and spur European resistance.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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