It is unclear why Trump is so insistent on acquiring Greenland.
Is it a misjudgement of how NATO, Europe and international relations really stand? Is it narcissistic, almost paranoid behaviour? A message for his domestic audience? An appetite for coveted resources?
This demand risks being one mistake too many, and it is unclear whether the president can actually follow through, given that the American people and Congress are clearly hostile to this aggression.
Above all, however, it is so unacceptable to Europeans that it has forced them to respond, and they have the means to do so.
Before any physical confrontation, which soldiers who have been allies for more than 100 years in the fight for freedom are likely to refuse, Trump's announcements are obliging Europeans to brandish and use the weapons they previously prepared to protect themselves against other authoritarian powers.
The ‘anti-coercion mechanism’ provides for the ban or restriction of access to the European market and its public procurement contracts for individuals and organisations that attempt to blackmail the European Union or one of its Member States. The French President and MEPs have already called for its implementation, which seems inevitable.
The Union has other means of putting pressure on an executive that has become unpredictable.
Ratification by the European Parliament of the customs agreement signed by the President of the European Commission in July 2025 therefore seems unlikely.
The proceedings currently underway against American digital companies that do not comply with European laws will not be slowed down because of a now-denied interest in dialogue, and they will certainly be seen through to their conclusion.
Part of the US federal debt is in the hands of European savers, and closing European markets to American companies would have serious consequences across the Atlantic.
It now seems that Europeans have no choice but to take a firm stance, that they have an increasing number of allies and that they are determined to fight back.
We can assume that they will do so as they did with Ukraine, with moderation and openness, without provocation but with firm resolve, and that they will ultimately prevail.
