Macron says Europe’s unity worked against Trump’s threats
France’s Emmanuel Macron is next, still sporting his shades to cover that nasty eye infection.
French president Emmanuel Macron speaks with the media as he arrives for the EU summit in Brussels. Photograph: Harry Nakos/AP
He says today’s meeting demonstrates the unity in support of Denmark, its territorial integrity and sovereignty.
“When Europe is united, strong and reacts quickly, things return to normal and calm,” he says.
But he says Europe needs to stay “vigilant” and continue acting in “united manner,” showing that it has “instruments at its disposal” if threatened to “command respect.”
He also says France is open to participating in more Nato missions, presumably in the Arctic.
Updated at 12.33 EST
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Macron says Europe’s unity worked against Trump’s threats
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Zelenskyy/Trump meeting in Davos ends
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Opening: More questions than answers
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Greenland deal ‘being worked on’ and ‘will be amazing for the USA,’ Trump says
US president Donald Trump has just posted a brief social media update on his way back from Davos to Washington, saying “the Greenland structure is being worked on and will be amazing for the US.”
Here is his post in full:
“Heading back to D.C. It was an incredible time in Davos. The Greenland structure is being worked on, and will be amazing for the U.S.A., and the Board of Peace is something that the World has never seen before — Very special. So many good things happening! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP”
Let’s take a quick look at some snaps from inside the room where it happens.
European Council president Antonio Costa, left, speaks with Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides, center right, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, center, during a round table meeting at the EU summit in Brussels. Photograph: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/APEuropean Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Cyprus’ president Nikos Christodoulides, European Council president Antonio Costa, Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz and Luxembourg’s prime minister Luc Frieden speak together as they arrive to attend a roundtable meeting of the European Council in Brussels. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty ImagesNetherlands’ outgoing prime minister Dick Schoof (L) speaks with Belgium’s prime minister Bart De Wever as they arrive to attend a roundtable meeting of the European Council to discuss recent developments in transatlantic relations, at the European headquarters in Brussels. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty ImagesShareWhat Trump’s U-turn on Greenland means for EU-US relations? – The Latest
The US president has backed down in the row over Greenland after threatening Europe with tariffs and the potential use of military force.
After talks with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, Donald Trump said the ‘framework of a future deal’ had been agreed for the territory to allow the US to build its military presence there.
But what does it mean for the US relationship with Europe? Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s Europe correspondent Jon Henley.
“We heard some language that we haven’t really heard from European leaders before. … There is a real lingering sense in Europe something pretty fundamental has been broken.”
Did Trump chicken out on Greenland? | The LatestShare
Jakub Krupa
I think most EU leaders are now in, so their meeting proper should get under way shortly.
Let’s get you a bit more on what happened over the last 24 hours, from our podcast The Latest.
ShareGreenland’s PM says Trump’s demands have been unacceptable – video
Here is a video summary of some of the key comments from Greenland’s prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, as reported earlier (17:20, 17:22).
‘We have clear red lines’: Greenland’s PM says Trump’s demands have been unacceptable – videoShareEU needs to support Denmark and show it won’t ‘accept any blackmail, even less from ally’, Swedish PM says
Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson also says the recent spat “has been damaging for the trust between European countries and the US.”
But he says he hopes both sides can now go back to “serious discussions” on increasing security in Greenland, but also on economic matters.
He adds:
“I think the necessary precondition [for moving forward] is for the European Union to [have] a very, very clear stance that we stand united behind Denmark and Greenland, and we do not accept any blackmail [from] any country, and even less so from an ally.”
ShareEurope ‘not willing to junk 80 years of good relations’ with US despite Trump’s behaviour, EU’s Kallas says
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says that “although everyone is relieved with recent announcements, we have also seen in this one year period [that’s a reference to Trump’s term] we need to be ready for a lot of unpredictability.”
“So we need to still discuss … our plans for different scenarios,” she says.
But she says the latest Trump’s U-turn offers a chance to “focus back on where the problems really lie, and this is the war in Ukraine that is still going on.”
She concedes the transatlantic relations have “taken a big blow over the last week,” but says it’s been clear over the last year that “these relations are not the same as they were.”
But she says Europe is “not willing to junk 80 years of good relations, and we are willing to work for this.” She says that most Americans also see Europe as their allies.
ShareWe need cooperation, not confrontation with US, Lithuania’s Nausėda says
Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nausėda is now speaking in Brussels.
Asked about recent tensions with the US, he says “this is critically important that all security issues have to be solved together and cooperation should be the main key word, instead of confrontation.”
He welcomes “some good developments” – a reference to Trump’s U-turn on tariffs – and says “it’s very important to understand that we can achieve much more by stopping the aggression of Russia and China and securing the stability in Arctic and North Atlantic region, if we do it together.”
He says Lithuania understands that well given the presence of US troops in the country and on the Eastern Flank of Nato, and says it’s important to keep the focus on “the constructive agenda, and avoid these misunderstandings.”
But he also pointedly says he supports the territorial integrity of Denmark going forward.
Updated at 12.50 EST
Makers of Macron’s sunglasses deluged with demand
Kim Willsher
in Paris
The world leaders and company executives meeting in Davos this week were meant to be discussing the most complex and alarming geopolitical crisis most could remember.
Instead, all eyes were on Emmanuel Macron.
France’s president Emmanuel Macron wears sunglasses as he attends the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters
The French president’s appearance in reflective Top Gun-style aviator sunglasses was the image that launched a thousand pithy jokes, memes and questions. Had he been injured while sparring in the boxing ring? Had he injured himself while working out in the gym? Did he simply, some wondered, want to avoid looking Donald Trump in the eye?
Few could have blamed Macron for channelling Tom Cruise in a mission impossible to neutralise the US president’s plan to take over Greenland and impose 200% trade tariffs on French wine and champagne. Some, like the communication specialist Philippe Moreau Chevrolet, saw the president’s decision to wear the French-made eyewear as symbolic in the context of France’s strained relations with the US.
The real reason was more prosaic: Macron was stylishly disguising a subconjunctival haemorrhage, a burst blood vessel in his right eye – a condition he described as “totally benign”.
But even he was not immune to cliches. Addressing French troops at a military event last week, Macron had described the problem as “l’oeil du tigre” (the eye of the tiger). The comment referenced the 1982 song by the rock band Survivor used in the boxing film Rocky III starring Sylvester Stallone. For those too young to get the reference, it was a “mark of determination”, he added.
For the artisan workers at Maison Henry Jullien in the département of Jura in eastern France, where glasses have been made for more than 100 years, it was publicity impossible to buy.
The Pacific by Maison Henry Jullien, worn by President Emmanuel Macron at the Davos Forum. Photograph: Henry Jullien
Stefano Fulchir, the president of iVision Tech, the Italian company that owns Henry Jullien, said the first he knew of the presidential endorsement was when French opticians rang him to say: “The president’s wearing our glasses!” When news spread, the company website crashed for most of the day.
“My first reaction can be summed up in three letters: wow! It has not been a typical day. I feel very honoured that the president is wearing our glasses,” he said.
Macron’s office had contacted the company in 2024 to buy a pair of €659 Pacific S 01 Double Gold sunglasses as a diplomatic gift during the G20 summit and a second pair for himself, he said.
“I said I would be happy to send him a pair but they said no. He did not accept them as a gift, but wanted to purchase them personally. The French president paid a lot of attention to whether the glasses were entirely made in France.”
ShareMacron says Europe’s unity worked against Trump’s threats
France’s Emmanuel Macron is next, still sporting his shades to cover that nasty eye infection.
French president Emmanuel Macron speaks with the media as he arrives for the EU summit in Brussels. Photograph: Harry Nakos/AP
He says today’s meeting demonstrates the unity in support of Denmark, its territorial integrity and sovereignty.
“When Europe is united, strong and reacts quickly, things return to normal and calm,” he says.
But he says Europe needs to stay “vigilant” and continue acting in “united manner,” showing that it has “instruments at its disposal” if threatened to “command respect.”
He also says France is open to participating in more Nato missions, presumably in the Arctic.
Updated at 12.33 EST
Merz hails Europe’s ‘unity and determination’ in defence of Greenland
German chancellor Friedrich Merz also stressed the that “unity and determination” on the European side has showed to make a difference against Trump’s Greenland aspirations.
He says he is “grateful” that the US president dropped his “initial plans to annex Greenland” and his tariff threats.
ShareDenmark’s Frederiksen reiterates red line on sovereignty, says open to ramping Arctic security
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen has just arrived for the summit.
She begins with thanks to other EU countries for their support.
“When Europe is not divided, when we stand together, clear and strong, also in our willingness to stand for ourselves, the results show.”
She adds “so I think we have learned something during the last couple of days and weeks.”
She then says Denmark wants to “find a solution” and has asked Nato to be more active in the Arctic region, and “everybody in Nato agrees with that.”
“And then we will discuss in a more traditional political, diplomatic way with the US … our bilateral relationship between the Kingdom of Denmark and the US.”
But she repeats the Denmark has its red lines and “we are a sovereign state and we cannot negotiate about that,” but it’s open to talks about strengthening cooperation in the Arctic region.
“We are willing to work together with the US, of course, as we have always done about security, but our red lines that are our also our democratic rules, cannot be discussed.”
Asked if she still trusts the US administration, she hesitates for second, and says diplomatically:
“We have been working very closely with us for many years, but we have to work together respectfully without threatening each other, and therefore, I of course, hope to find a political solution within the framework of democracy.”
In almost every single answer, she reiterates Denmark’s red lines on sovereignty.
Updated at 13.11 EST
We need to de-escalate Greenland and not ‘lose focus’ on Ukraine, Irish PM says
Irish prime minister Micheál Martin is up next, saying the meeting comes after a few “challenging weeks” on Greenland.
But he welcomes Trump’s pledge to not use force against Greenland and drop retaliatory tariffs against a number of European countries.
He says:
“There is an existing treaty between Denmark and the US, and clearly that provides a framework to enable discussions to take place. I think it’s important, now that it’s in a process, that we de-escalate tensions around this and seek to deal with it and through the framework that has been agreed.”
He says the US-EU relationship is “still very critical” in many ways, “because it is, if you look at the trade between US and Europe, at the interdependence, economically, it is so strong and so vast that any undermining of that would have very serious repercussions for European citizens and for American citizens.”
Just like Tusk, he says leaders “cannot lose focus on the situation in Ukraine”.
“The situation in Ukraine is desperate. Hundreds and thosuands of people have lost their lives. At the very moment, because of the attacks on energy infrastructure and through a very difficult winter, many, many people in Ukraine are freezing and no heating and so on. There’s a desperate need to bring this to an end on a fair and sustainable way.”
He says Europe’s relationship with the US is “critical” to achieving “a just and fair and sustainable peace in Ukraine”.
Updated at 12.05 EST
US needs to understand difference between ‘domination and leadership,’ Poland’s Tusk says
Poland’s Donald Tusk is one of the first leaders to arrive.
Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels. Photograph: Omar Havana/AP
He says the key, “I think it’s obvious for all of us, is to keep Europe united – it works.”
He says the EU’s unity and cooperation with other non-EU partners, like the UK, Canada, Iceland and Norway, is “the only way to show this very strange problem we have today in international politics.”
In a pointed swipe at Trump, he says “coercion is not a good method, especially in our relations with … transatlantic partners.”
He stresses that he is “very dedicated” to transatlatic relations and the US is strategically important for Poland.
But then he says:
“We always accepted leadership of the United States as something absolutely natural but … it is important for all of us, also our partners in Washington, to understand the difference between domination and leadership. Leadership is okay.”
In further comments in Polish, he says he’s not expecting any fireworks today, and notes the meeting had been called before Trump’s last night U-turn on tariffs and Rutte’s “difficult and still uncertain” mission to “try and resolve the Greenland issue in a civilised way.”
But he says it’s still very important to show EU’s unity in response to Trump’s comments, and he says Europe’s focus – beyond the EU – should be on protecting the relations with the US against “collapsing.”
He also warns leaders against losing sight of the worsening situation in Ukraine as a result of “unneeded” distractions on other issues.
He says he had hoped to see more progress on Ukraine and regrets Davos was bit of a wasted chance to progress these issues, and adds he hopes to see renewed focus on Ukraine from now on.
Responding to questions, he pointedly says that the EU should not seek to “appease” Trump and stand tall in defence of its values, but he equally warns against any anti-US sentiments in a kneejerk reaction to the current administration.
He says mutual trust, not coercion, is the basis of any good relationship between allies.
Updated at 11.57 EST
EU leaders meet to discuss ‘new normal’ is US relations after Greenland threats – analysis
Jennifer Rankin
in Brussels
EU leaders are gathering in Brussels for an emergency summit to discuss the volatile “new normal” in transatlantic relations, after weeks of escalating threats from Donald Trump over Greenland.
Although the US president dropped his tariff threat over a vague deal on Arctic security, EU leaders still have plenty to talk about over dinner, which was hastily convened earlier this week in response to the trade threats, widely seen as attempted coercion.
Trump’s decision to step back from tariffs “evidently changes a little the context of this European Council, but does not remove its interest”, said a European diplomat, who evoked shifting tectonic plates in the geopolitical order. “We are in a world of uncertainty,” said the diplomat. “We shouldn’t be surprised if there are surprises.”
Leaders were meeting in a context, said a senior EU official, “that was more positive than it was 24 hours ago to discuss how they understand this new reality” citing “a new normal of this very important and structural relationship between Europe and the United States”.
While the threat to Greenland has subsided, for now, European leaders are also expected to share their concerns about Trump’s proposed board of peace, amid fears he is seeking to create a rival to the United Nations.
Launched in Davos on Thursday, the board of peace was initially part of Trump’s peace and reconstruction plan for Gaza, but is morphing into an organisation with a sprawling geopolitical role under his direct control. So far, Hungary and Bulgaria are the only EU member states to accept an invitation to join the board of peace, while France, Sweden and non-EU Norway and the UK have declined.
A very large majority [of EU member states] have said they are not in a position to join the board as it stands,” the EU official said, when asked whether European governments could join a board of peace that included Vladimir Putin, who is wanted for war crimes against Ukraine. The Russian president has not confirmed whether he intends to take up Trump’s invitation.
ShareEU leaders expected in Brussels for emergency summit on GreenlandJakub Krupa
We are expecting the EU leaders to start arriving in Brussels for their emergency summit on Greenland shortly.
The meeting starts 7pm local time, but they usually come a bit early and chat to reporters as they arrive.
I will bring you all the key lines here, obviously.
But first, let’s go to our Brussels correspondent, Jennifer Rankin, so she can set the scene for us.
ShareDanish PM rules out talks over sovereignty in red lines for US talks
Just a reminder that earlier today, the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has ruled out any negotiations on the sovereignty of Denmark and Greenland.
She said in a statement it was “good and natural” that Arctic security was discussed between the US president and the Nato secretary general in Davos last night as it is an issue affecting all, but reiterated that Nato cannot make decisions on the sovereignty of Denmark and Greenland.
“I have been informed that this has not been the case.”
We should hear from her again later tonight as she is expected in Brussels for the emergency EU summit on Greenland.
Earlier today, she was in London to meet with UK prime minister Keir Starmer, praising – as my colleague Andrew Sparrow reported – what she called the “British way of doing things”.
“You are very pragmatic. You have a cup of tea and then you think a bit about everything. You get the facts on the table, and then you find a way forward, and that’s exactly what we’re doing now.”
Frederiksen ended her remarks with a Beatles reference.
“So just to finalise, I think we’ve got to get by with a little help from our friends, also in this situation.”
British prime minister Keir Starmer (R) and Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen (L) hold a bilateral meeting. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPAShareTalks on Greenland are ‘fine,’ JD Vance says, as he stresses Trump always gets what he wants
US vice-president JD Vance has also been speaking about Greenland this afternoon at an event in Toledo, Ohio.
United States Vice President JD Vance speaks on the U.S. economy at Midwest Terminals, Ironville Rail and Transfer, in Toledo, Ohio, United States. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
He said this:
“Greenland matters to American national security because our entire missile defence relies on security.
This is something the media who’s obsessed with Greenland, Greenland, Greenland, they completely forget why Greenland matters.
What if, God forbid, I’m not saying it’s going to happen anytime soon, but what if a foreign country launched a missile at the United States of America? We would need control over the Arctic in order to shoot that missile down. Our entire missile defence system defends depends on that arctic security.”
It seems that JD Vance has inexplicably and unfortunately missed Dan Sabbagh and mine’s explanation of this very point on Europe Live last week (there is even a map!) and our amazing maps on Greenland if he says the media “completely forget” to make that point, so here they are again:
He then continued:
“Meanwhile, the Chinese and the Russians and even the Danes who control Greenland admit that they want to control that facility, that island, that land mass.
That would make us weaker, that would make our country more in danger. That would mean that if the President is negotiating with a foreign leader, he would have less leverage, because they would be able to realistically threaten the sovereignty and the territorial safety of the United States of America.
We’re not going to let that happen.”
He then claimed that talks with Nato are going “fine,” before adding:
“I believe, having seen this for the past year, that when the President sets his mind to accomplish something in negotiation, he accomplishes it.”
Updated at 11.42 EST
Greenland’s Nielsen also says that “one thing we all agree on is [that] the security of the Arctic and our region is important.”
“That’s something everybody agrees on. Let’s talk about how we then do it better.”
He says he is “glad” that Trump said he would not use force against Greenland.
He says all conversations should take place through the working group, in a way showing “mutual respect.”
Updated at 11.23 EST