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National Post
16-06-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Macron visits Greenland and criticizes Trump's threats to take it over
French president Emmanuel Macron has come out strongly against U.S. President Donald Trump's musings about annexing Greenland, making his comments during a stop in Denmark's island territory ahead of the G7 meeting. Article content Macron paid a visit to Greenland on Sunday, on his way to the G7 conference in Kananaskis, Alta. He became the first foreign leader to visit the region since Trump's recent talk of annexation, and was openly critical of those plans. Article content Article content Article content Reuters reports that, when asked on his arrival about Trump's ambitions, Macron said: 'I don't think that's what allies do … it's important that Denmark and the Europeans commit themselves to this territory, which has very high strategic stakes and whose territorial integrity must be respected.' Article content Article content In a speech that was received by cheers and applause from locals, Macron said: 'Everybody thinks in France, in the European Union, that Greenland is not to be sold, not to be taken.' He added: 'The situation in Greenland is clearly a wake-up call for all the Europeans. And let me tell you very directly that you are not alone.' Article content Referring to Greenland as a part of Europe, he said: 'We know our common flag and we know our long-standing choices, and this is why it's very important for French people and all the European people to convey very clearly this message of solidarity and the fact that we stand with you, now, for today, and for tomorrow.' Article content A source at the Élysée Palace told Reuters that Macron's trip had a 'dimension of European solidarity and one of strengthening sovereignty and territorial integrity,' without directly mentioning the Trump administration's threats to purchase Greenland, or take it by force. Article content Article content Additionally, the source said the French president's six-hour visit would focus on Arctic security, climate change and Greenland's economic development, and would include a tour of a glacier, a hydroelectric power station and a Danish warship moored near the territory's capital, Nuuk. Article content Article content Article content But since his re-election, he has been more bellicose in his musings. This month, U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth seemed to acknowledge that the Pentagon had contingency plans to take Greenland and also Panama by force if necessary, telling a congressional hearing: 'Our job … is to have plans for any contingency.' Article content That said, U.S. designs on the world's largest island can be traced back over more than a century. U.S. senator William Henry Seward, who oversaw the purchase of Alaska in the 1860s, had a similar plan to buy Greenland from Denmark, going so far as to write that its incorporation into America would 'flank British America for thousands of miles … and greatly increase her inducements, peacefully and cheerfully, to become a part of the American Union.'
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.
