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Daily Mail
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Macron's blunt message to Trump from Greenland pre-G7
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. 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. I view it from a security standpoint, we have to be there,' said Trump. 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.
Japan Times
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Macron offers aid for Greenland security amid Trump threats
French President Emmanuel Macron said France would be available to conduct joint exercises to improve security in Greenland, the Danish territory coveted by U.S. President Donald Trump. "Greenland is subject to preying ambitions,' Macron told reporters in Nuuk, Greenland, Sunday alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. "Everyone thinks — in France and in the EU — that Greenland shall neither be sold nor taken.' The French president said a U.S. annexation would be a "crazy' scenario and called for joint exercises in the Arctic region, including Baltic and Nordic states, with Canada and even with the U.S. The U.S. president has cited national security as a reason to acquire the semi-autonomous island and criticized Denmark for not investing enough in its defense of the territory, which has a strategic location straddling the North Atlantic and the Arctic. It's already home to a U.S. air base and radar station used to detect missile threats and monitor space. Trump recently said he would "100%' get the island — rekindling an idea he first floated in 2019. Macron and Trump are set to cross paths at a meeting of Group of Seven leaders in Canada, which begins Monday. There, leaders are expected to discuss the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, but also to issue a statement about critical minerals, which are believed to exist in vast quantities in Greenland. Macron said he would bring the issue up with Trump at the G7 meeting. Macron, who often casts himself as a defender of European sovereignty, is joining a chorus of leaders on the continent who have opposed Trump's ambitions on the island. Trump's comments on acquiring the island have been criticized by Greenlanders and Danes and also by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. While Merz didn't travel with Macron on Sunday, he met Danish leader Mette Frederiksen earlier this week in Berlin and said he stood by the side of Denmark. Macron has been seeking to capitalize on his long relationship with his U.S. counterpart, while also criticizing some of Trump's policies. Earlier this year, Macron urged U.S.-based scientists hit by cost cuts to relocate to Europe. Last week, he said Greenland, the Arctic and deep seas were "not for sale' — a veiled jab at Trump, whose administration is promoting deep-sea mining in international waters. "The situation in Greenland is clearly a wakeup call for all Europeans,' said Macron, who also suggested opening a French consulate on the territory. "You are not alone.'
South China Morning Post
15-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Macron, on Greenland visit, berates Trump for threats against the territory
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday criticised US President Donald Trump's threats to annex Greenland, as he made a visit to the Danish autonomous territory. 'That's not what allies do,' Macron said as he arrived in Nuuk, Greenland's capital. Macron is the first foreign head of state to visit the vast territory – at the crossroads of the Atlantic and the Arctic – since Trump's annexation threats Trump, since returning to the White House in January, has repeatedly said America needs the strategically located, resource-rich island for security reasons and has refused to rule out the use of force to secure it. Denmark has also repeatedly stressed that Greenland 'is not for sale'. Macron said his visit was aimed at conveying 'France's and the European Union's solidarity' for 'the sovereignty and territorial integrity' of Greenland.
Daily Mail
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Macron sends blunt Trump a message as he lands in Greenland ahead of G7
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. 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.' '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.
Al Arabiya
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Macron Visits Greenland to Show European Support for the Strategic Arctic Island Coveted by Trump
French President Emmanuel Macron landed in Greenland, the strategic Arctic island coveted by US President Donald Trump, on Sunday, carrying a message of solidarity and friendship from France and the European Union. Macron reiterated his criticism of Trump's intention to take control of the territory. 'I don't think that's something to be done between allies,' he said as he was greeted at the Nuuk airport by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister 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,' Macron said. He was making a stop on his way to a summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations in Canada that will be also attended by Trump. Macron, who is visiting Greenland for the first time, said it 'means a lot to me … to convey a message of friendship and solidarity from France and the European Union to help this territory face the different challenges: economic development, education, as well as the consequences of climate change.' In a speech last week at the UN Ocean Conference, Macron also mentioned Greenland and the deep seas, saying they 'are not up for grabs,' in remarks that appeared directed largely at Trump. In recent months, Macron has sought to reinvigorate France's role as the diplomatic and economic heavyweight of the twenty-seven-nation European Union. The French president has positioned himself as a leader in Europe amid Trump's threats to pull support from Ukraine as it fights against Russia's invasion. Macron hosted a summit in Paris with other European heads of state to discuss Kyiv as well as security issues on the continent. Sunday's visit will also be the occasion to discuss how to further enhance relations between the EU and Greenland when it comes to economic development, low-carbon energy transition, and critical minerals. The leaders will also have exchanges on efforts to curb global warming, according to Macron's office. Later Sunday, Macron, Frederiksen, and Nielsen held a meeting on a Danish helicopter carrier, showing France's concerns over security issues in the region. Last week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to acknowledge that the Pentagon has developed plans to take over Greenland and Panama by force, if necessary, but refused to answer repeated questions during a hotly combative congressional hearing Thursday about his use of Signal chats to discuss military operations. Hegseth's comments were the latest controversial remarks made by a member of the Trump administration about the Arctic island. The president himself has said he won't rule out military force to take over Greenland, which he considers vital to American security in the high north. The Wall Street Journal last month reported that several high-ranking officials under the US director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, had directed intelligence agency heads to learn more about Greenland's independence movement and sentiment about US resource extraction there. In April, Nielsen said that US statements about the island 'have been disrespectful' and that 'Greenland will never, ever be a piece of property that can be bought by just anyone.'
