Trump’s jibes are wearing thin for many of Europe’s leaders

“If it weren’t for us, you’d all be speaking German right now,” President Donald Trump told his audience at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps on Wednesday.

He may have forgotten that German is the most spoken language among the four official languages ​​in Switzerland.

From Brussels to Berlin to Paris, many will find his speech insulting, overbearing and inaccurate.

In it he presented the idea that Europe was moving on the wrong path. It’s a theme Trump has explored frequently, but it has a different effect when delivered to the faces of so-called friends and allies on European soil.

There is undoubtedly a great relief across Europe. US president rejects use of military force to take Greenland At the forum in Davos.

But even if he keeps his promise, the main problem remains that he wants a piece of land whose owners say it is not for sale.

“What is clear after this speech is that the president’s ambition remains unchanged,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told reporters in Copenhagen.

He said Trump’s comments about the military were “positive in isolation.”

In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, thousands of kilometers from Davos, government officials unveiled a new brochure advising residents on what to do in the event of a “crisis” in the region.

Self-Sufficiency Minister Peter Borg said the document was “an insurance policy.” He said the Greenland government did not expect to have to use it.

More importantly, there was no suggestion in Trump’s speech that the current threat to him would be reduced. Hitting with new tariffs eight European countries he deems most guilty of hindering his Arctic ambitions.

There was no mention of the 10% tax, which is scheduled to come into force from February 1.

In Europe, any hopes that President Trump would ease the pain of this transatlantic crisis were dashed as he began outlining his uncompromising argument for taking over the island.

He ignored European insistence that Greenland was sovereign EU territory and framed its purchase as a perfectly reasonable transaction, given decades of US military support for the continent.

Trump insisted it was wrong for the US to “give back” Greenland after securing it during World War II.

Greenland was never part of the United States.

Trump returned to his familiar refrain that NATO’s European members do nothing for the United States.

He was particularly disdainful of Denmark, recalling that in 1940 it “fell to Germany after only six hours of fighting and was unable to fully defend either itself or Greenland.”

Trump’s military history lesson failed to remember that the Danes were a key partner in the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and paid a heavy price.

Denmark lost 44 soldiers Proportionately more than any other ally other than the US. They also lost personnel along with US forces in Iraq.

Many other NATO allies supported the United States after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

The subject of most ridicule was French President Emmanuel Macron.

He was made fun of for wearing sunglasses on Tuesday. had an eye problem – and his “tough” speech on the podium.

Trump insisted he liked Macron and continued: “Isn’t it hard to believe?”

But for many European leaders, this joke is no longer valid.

They spent a year flattering, influencing and appeasing the US president, and in return they faced their greatest threat yet.

As the European Union meets in Brussels for an emergency summit on Thursday, senior European politicians chose to use their harshest language yet in response to US policy.

The ball is now in Europe’s court; Will they increase the discourse on counter-tariffs and counter-tariffs? EU’s ‘trade bazooka’?

Or will they wait for their powder until February 1 to see if Trump actually follows through on his latest threat?

At the beginning of his meandering one hour and 12 minute speech, President Trump boasted that “people are very happy with me” domestically.

After this latest extraordinary round of Trump democracy, that sentiment is much harder to find in the Europe the president claims to love so much.