US Slaps Down French Calls For NATO Drills In Greenland, Mocks Macron

Among the big and more notable quotes to come out of President Trump’s Davos address is his statement that he ”won’t use force” to take over Greenland while calling for “immediate negotiations” to discuss the “acquisition” of the Arctic territory by the United States from Denmark.

“This enormous unsecured island is actually part of North America,” Trump said before the World Economic Forum. Still, he asserted “That’s our territory.” He added: “The fact is, no nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States. We’re a great power, much greater than people even understand. I think they found that out two weeks ago in Venezuela.”

Denmark has greeted the part of Trump’s remarks wherein he said he won’t use military force as “positive”. Leading European powers are still trying their best to flex their might, however.

As French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the summit, donning his aviator shades, he called on NATO allies to conduct a military exercise in Greenland amid Trump’s bellicose rhetoric related to potentially seizing the Danish territory..

“France calls for a NATO exercise in Greenland and is ready to contribute to it,” Macron’s office confirmed Wednesday just ahead of Trump’s arrival and speech in Switzerland. 

It remains unclear whether Macron also has US military participation in mind, or whether this would be a purely European NATO thing. Since near the beginning of Trump’s recently ramping up his rhetoric over Greenland, shortly on the heels of the Venezuela operation to overthrow Maduro, the Europeans have pursued an alternative strategy to divert Trump into assisting with joint Arctic monitoring. 

He’s complained of inroads in the resource-rich region by Russian and China, and so Europe is seeking to satisfy Trump’s call for Greenland to be a secure American outpost. EU leaders then hope he would eventually give up the idea of owning Greenland.

But Washington is seeing through this, with top US officials quickly pushing back against the idea of NATO drills there. Speaking on the sidelines of the WEF, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took a swipe at Macron:

He described as “inflammatory” statements on Tuesday by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who said Europe preferred “respect to bullies” and “the rule of law to brutality”, and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, who promised an “unflinching” tariff response.

“If this is all President Macron has to do when the French budget is in shambles, I would suggest he focuses on other things for the French people,” Bessent said. He urged leaders in Davos not to show “reflexive anger” and “bitterness”.

Already France along with a handful of other EU nations has dispatched a small military contingent to Greenland and has plans to send more sea, air and land forces. Even Canada is said to be mulling some kind of troop deployment.

The bus “Greenland Excursions” taking the handful of European troops we sent for Arctic Endurance NATO drill is somewhat emblematic of the whole situation. pic.twitter.com/rsOQ398ua8

— Zeitgeist Explorer (@ZeitgeistExplo1) January 15, 2026

As for the NATO secretary-general, the alliance’s chief Mark Rutte kicked off the week by telling reporters that he does “not at all” see NATO as in crisis, brushing off much of the escalating Greenland back-and-forth.

“I think we are really working in the right direction,” Rutte said – but we can imagine Putin and Kremlin officials are currently kicking back to enjoy the popcorn and the show, also as the Ukraine war has momentarily taken a back seat among Western officials.