Trump's European threats could make it harder for future US leaders to repair ties

WASHINGTON — Barely a month into his presidency, Joe Biden had a message for Europe.

''America is back,'' Biden told the Munich Security Conference in 2021. ''The transatlantic alliance is back.''

It was a promise Biden delivered often as he sought to cast the disruptions of his predecessor, Donald Trump, as an anomaly. But nearly five years later, Biden's assurances have proven short-lived.

In his second term, Trump has cast aside alliances forged over seven decades with Europe that helped lead to the reunification of Germany and the collapse of the Soviet Union. He has hectored leaders, making demands and leveling accusations more commonly associated with enemies. In the process, he has rocked the stability that has sustained the relationships and left countries to chart a course without U.S. leadership.

The most stark example of this shift has been Trump's threat to take over Greenland, dismissing the nation as a large ''piece of ice'' as he demanded that Denmark cede control to the U.S., a move that could have caused NATO to rupture.

He called Denmark, which had the highest per capita death toll among coalition forces in Afghanistan, ''ungrateful'' for U.S. protection during World War II. He posted private text messages that showed European leaders trying to court him. Trump shared images of him planting the U.S. flag in Greenland and, in an extraordinary speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said Europe was ''not heading in the right direction.'' At one point, he said that ''sometimes you need a dictator.''

Then, hours later, he announced a ''framework of a future deal'' on Arctic security. Following a long pattern, however, he offered scant details.

Though Trump has for now backed away from his most potent threats to obtain Greenland, the episode has left America's standing in the world uncertain.

NATO leaders already were responding to Trump's threats by signaling strategies that don't include the U.S. That could make it much harder for the next president — whether they are a Democrat or Republican — to attempt the same type of reputational repair that Biden sought.

''To an extent, things can be improved,'' said Jon Finer, who was Biden's deputy national security adviser and is now a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. ''But they will never be the same in large part because I think any country that is behaving rationally in terms of its relationship with the United States will realize that we can only be counted on in four year increments, if at all."

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who parried Trump's gambit to make Canada the 51st state, has already set out on a more independent path. In Davos, Carney was candid that the notion of the longstanding rules-based order was an ''illusion.''

''Let me be direct: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,'' Carney said as he called on so-called middle powers to ''act together.''

Over the weekend, the European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries formally signed a long-sought free trade agreement, which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen portrayed as a bulwark against the Trump administration. EU lawmakers narrowly voted on Wednesday to hold up the deal for now.

European leaders were unsparing

Ahead of Trump's appearance in Davos, European leaders were unsparing, using language that until recently would have been unthinkable in relation to a dispute with the U.S. French President Emmanuel Macron cautioned against colonial adventures, warning of ''a shift towards a world without rules.''

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said ''so many red lines have been crossed,'' adding, ''being a happy vassal is one thing. Being a miserable slave is something else. If you back down now, you're going to lose your dignity.''

This moment was also notable for the criticism of Trump from longtime allies on the right. In the UK, Nigel Farage said in an interview with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson that he understood the security issues Trump was raising in the Arctic. But he added that Trump's approach amounted to the ''biggest fracture'' in the transatlantic relationship in decades.

Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party in France and a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year's tariff deal with the U.S., describing Trump's threats as ''commercial blackmail.''

Trump mostly has support from GOP in Congress

Congressional Republicans so far have largely supported Trump — or stayed silent.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast likened the dispute to ''a hard conversation" and questioned the long-term consequences. Trump used his 2025 State of the Union address to express a desire to reclaim the Panama Canal.

''If you went back exactly one year, you might say, ‘man the tensions with Panama were the worst they'd ever been,''' said Mast, a Florida Republican. ''Panama came in last week, things were the best that they'd ever been because we had some really tough conversations with each other that we needed to have.''

''Threatening Greenland with force was absurd,'' he said.

For their part, Democrats have encouraged a more robust response — both from Europe and in the U.S.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, was in Davos this week and blasted Europeans for focusing on diplomatic efforts ahead of Trump's appearance.

''Diplomacy with Donald Trump?'' he said. ''He's a T-Rex. You mate with him or he devours you.''

In an interview, Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said it ''may take some time'' for a future president to rebuild trust with allies. But he argued a full recovery in global relationships may require a more lasting shift in U.S. politics.

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