US allies push back on Greenland at Davos ahead of Trump address
LONDON -- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney added his voice to the condemnation of U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to acquire Greenland during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, warning that the international community is "in the midst of a rupture."
Several allied leaders have used their speeches at the annual event in the Swiss Alps to push back on Trump's pressure campaign over Greenland, which has seen Trump and administration officials propose tariffs on NATO allies and even threaten the use of force to seize control of the massive Arctic territory.
Greenland is a self-governing territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. Trump first raised the prospect of acquiring the minerals-rich island in his first term. Danish and Greenlandic politicians have repeatedly rebuffed such proposals.
NATO allies have mobilized to bolster Greenlandic security in response to Trump's assertions that the territory -- and the wider Arctic region -- are at risk from growing Chinese and Russian regional influence.
On Tuesday, Carney warned that the world has entered a new "era of great power rivalry," in which "the rules-based order is fading ... the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must."
"Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. Over the past two decades, a series of crises in finance, health, energy and geopolitics have laid bare the risks of extreme global integration," Carney continued.
"But more recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited," he added.
"On Arctic sovereignty, we stand firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully support their unique right to determine Greenland's future," Carney said. "Canada strongly opposes tariffs over Greenland and calls for focused talks to achieve our shared objectives of security and prosperity in the Arctic."
Trump is scheduled to speak at Davos on Wednesday afternoon local time. Speaking with reporters before heading to Switzerland, the president showed no sign of softening his approach to the Greenland issue.
"I think that we will work something out where NATO is going to be very happy and we're -- we're going to be very happy," Trump said of the upcoming Davos trip during a press briefing. "But we need it for security purposes. We need it for national security and even world security. It's very important."
When asked by a reporter how far he was willing to go to secure Greenland, Trump replied, "You'll find out."
Other European leaders on Tuesday spoke at Davos and criticized Trump's threat of tariffs on NATO allies related to Greenland.
The president announced new 10% tariffs on all goods from the eight nations -- Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands and Finland -- that sent small contingents of troops to Greenland last week. The European nations said the deployments were for a military exercise intended to boost regional security.
Trump said the new tariffs will come into force on Feb. 1 and will increase to 25% on June 1. The president said the measures would remain in place until the U.S. is able to purchase Greenland.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a speech in Davos that the "proposed additional tariffs are a mistake." Referring to the trade deal signed by the EU and U.S. in July, von der Leyen added, "In politics as in business, a deal is a deal."
"Plunging us into a dangerous downward spiral would only aid the very adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of the strategic landscape," she said. "Our response will be unflinching, united and proportional."
On Wednesday, von der Leyen said during a press conference at the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, France, "The threat of additional tariffs for security reasons is simply wrong."
"We are at a crossroads. Europe prefers dialogue and solutions, but we are fully prepared to act, if necessary, with unity, urgency, and determination," von der Leyen added.
European Council President Antonio Costa said, "Further tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and are incompatible with the EU-US agreement." He added, "We stand ready to defend ourselves, our member states, our citizens, our companies against any form of coercion."
French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, criticized "competition from the United States of America through trade agreements that undermine our export interests, demand maximum concessions, and openly aim to weaken and subordinate Europe."
Such measures, he said, were "combined with an endless accumulation of new tariffs that are fundamentally unacceptable -- even more so when they are used as leverage against territorial sovereignty."
The Greenland military exercises, Macron said, posed no threat and were a step taken to support Denmark. "Cooperating is not about blaming others," Macron said. "We do prefer respect to bullies."
On Wednesday, Paris called for new allied drills. "France requests a NATO exercise in Greenland and is ready to contribute," a source at the Elysee Palace -- which houses the presidential office -- told ABC News.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, meanwhile, said in a post to Facebook on Tuesday that the autonomous territory must be "prepared for the worst."
"It is unlikely that we will be arrested by force, but we cannot be indifferent either," Nielsen wrote. "Our neighbor did not miss this opportunity. It is therefore important that we be prepared for the worst."
Nielsen said Greenland is in "constant dialogue with the EU and NATO and others," about the situation.
ABC News' Othon Leyva, Patrick Reevell, Michelle Stoddart, Isabella Murray, Will Gretsky, Zoe Magee, Ellie Kaufman and Tom Soufi Burridge contributed to this report.
