Trump’s Greenland demand triggers U.S. tariff warnings and European strategic review. President Trump’s overt push to acquire Greenland and his threat of “extraordinary tariffs” on European allies that resist the move have forced European capitals to question the durability of U.S. financial and military backing while confronting shared security challenges from Ukraine to Arctic energy projects [1][3].

Europe debates independent defense capabilities amid shifting U.S. commitments. Leaders in Paris and Brussels are accelerating plans for a sovereign nuclear deterrent and expanding French intelligence support to Kyiv, while the EU continues to replace Russian gas with U.S. LNG, underscoring a mixed trajectory toward self‑reliance that still depends on thousands of American troops and equipment [1].

Moscow and Beijing see the Greenland dispute as a wedge‑driving opportunity. Russian officials, including Lavrov, label the episode a “deep NATO crisis” that could pit allies against one another, while Kremlin spokespeople condemn the action as outside international law and praise it as a blow to the alliance; both Russia and China assert no intent to threaten Greenland and are monitoring the situation for strategic leverage [2][3].

Ukraine’s war effort becomes entangled in transatlantic friction. A Russian attack has left large parts of Kyiv without power, prompting President Zelensky to remain in the capital and signal willingness to meet Trump, but the timing complicates Western unity on security guarantees and heightens concerns that NATO cohesion could erode at a critical moment for Kyiv [1][3].