French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a blunt message to Donald Trump by stopping in Greenland Sunday en route to the G7 – a massive territory the U.S. president says the nation ‘needs.’
Macron stopped in Nuuk, the same city visited by Donald Trump, Jr. and Vice President JD Vance in separate stops that alarmed some locals who favor moves toward independence or continued association with Denmark.
And the French president, eager to flex his own as a European leader as Trump pulls back rhetorically from European allies and pivots away from Ukraine, did not hold back in his public comments.
‘I don’t think that´s something to be done between allies,’ Macron said on a brief visit where he met Danish PM Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s PM Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
‘It´s important to show that Denmark and Europe are committed to this territory, which has very high strategic stakes and whose territorial integrity must be respected,’ Marcon added.
Macron’s visit comes as Trump prepares to land in a country where locals are equally adamant against his call to make Canada the 51st U.S. state.
‘‘I don’t think he’s playing around. I think he has intent around it. I think I think he’s smart enough to know that we need them more than they need us, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes,’ local electrical contractor Curtis Reynard told the Daily Mail.
Cold call: French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a pointed message to President Trump by visiting Greenland en route to the G7 meetings in Canada
With great powers scrambling for influence in the Arctic, Macron has also said the deep seas are not ‘up for grabs.’
Trump has been blunt in his claims about the need to obtain Greenland, which has stores of rare earth minerals under its permafrost and a strategic location between North America and Europe.
‘We need Greenland for national security and international security,’ Trump said in late March as the situation escalated.
‘So we’ll, I think, we’ll go as far as we have to go,’ Trump added. ‘We need Greenland. And the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark. Denmark has to have us have Greenland. And, you know, we’ll see what happens. But if we don’t have Greenland, we can’t have great international security.’
Macron’s trip comes after Trump and first lady Melania Trump viwed U.S. military might during a 250th anniversary Army parade that fell on Trump’s birthday
Macron’s trip to Greenland came hours before Trump was to arrive in Canada
Greenland has vast oil and mineral resources, but they’re not easy to get to
Trump’s trip coincides with protest over his comments on making Canada a U.S. state
‘I view it from a security standpoint, we have to be there,’ said Trump.
Last week, Denmark’s parliament approved U.S. military bases on Danish soil, explanding a 2023 agreement.
Denmarks PM has said Greenland ‘will never, ever be a piece of property that can be bought by just anyone.’ And early this year amid the pressure Denmark said it would pour $2 billion into Arctic defense.
Last week Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers the U.S. had plans to invade Greenland or Panama if necessary.
‘Our job at the Defense Department is to have plans for any particular contingency,’ Hegseth said under questioning at a hearing.
‘I think the American people would want the Pentagon to have plans for any particular contingency,’ Hegseth added.
The remarks prompted pushback from Alaska Senate Repulbican Lisa Murkowski. She told the Daily Mail she didn’t ‘think the Trump administration would like to buy Greenland once they realize what the price of Greenland would be.’
Macron’s trip comes after Trump and first lady Melania Trump viwed U.S. military might during a 250th anniversary Army parade that fell on Trump’s birthday.
It was during a trip to France to watch Bastille Day celebrations with Macon that Trump got the idea for a parade in DC.
