Although that was the first time that Trump has explicitly ruled out a military intervention, his remarks didn’t reassure everyone.
People “can judge for themselves,” said one EU diplomat, granted anonymity to speak freely, as were others in this piece, before adding that Trump still seems insistent on getting Greenland. “It comes down to how much trust you put in that word. But I think few would see that speech and rule out anything.”
Those pushing for a forceful European response to the Trump threats were undeterred, saying Thursday’s meeting of EU leaders is still very much needed. “It is always useful that the leaders are together, especially after this weekend,” said a second diplomat.
None of the leaders of the main EU institutions had responded publicly to Trump’s speech at the time of writing.
Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s former foreign minister, wrote online during the speech that “if we start questioning the borders of countries again and try to shift them by force, threats, or coercion, we will fall back into dark times.”
Describing Greenland as a “big beautiful piece of ice — it’s hard to call it land — it’s a piece of ice,” Trump did mix up which European territory he wanted to take control of, mentioning “Iceland” at least four times.