President Donald Trump on Tuesday escalated an already tense dispute with European allies by publicly posting a private message from French President Emmanuel Macron, exposing mounting diplomatic friction over Trump’s renewed push to bring Greenland under U.S. control.
In a screenshot Trump shared on Truth Social, Macron sought to balance cooperation with concern. “My friend, we are totally in line on Syria, we can do great things on Iran. I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland.”
The message, intended for private diplomatic channels, also outlined Macron’s proposal for an impromptu G7 meeting in Paris on Thursday, following the conclusion of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Macron suggested inviting delegations from Ukraine, Denmark, Syria, and Russia “in the margins” of the gathering and offered to host a dinner between the two leaders before Trump’s return to the United States, according to The Hill.
Trump is scheduled to depart Washington for Switzerland on Tuesday evening to attend the Davos forum, where Greenland is expected to surface repeatedly in closed-door discussions among world leaders.
The unusual disclosure of the message comes amid rising tensions over Trump’s insistence that the United States requires Greenland for national security purposes. The administration has repeatedly cited the island’s Arctic position, rare earth minerals, and strategic value as justification, and officials have not ruled out the possibility of military action to secure it. Greenland remains a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.
European leaders, Macron among them, have pushed back forcefully. Last week, military personnel from several European nations, including France, arrived in Greenland to participate in Danish-led joint exercises known as Operation Arctic Endurance.
The Greenland dispute has also become entangled with Trump’s grievances over international recognition. Over the weekend, he sent a letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, a message that was shared with multiple European ambassadors, linking his stance on Greenland to the Nobel Committee’s decision regarding last year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
The 2025 prize was awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. In the letter, Trump wrote: “Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” according to reports from News Nation and other outlets.
Machado, during a meeting with Trump earlier this month, said she had given the prize to him, which upset the Nobel Committee. The Norwegian Nobel Committee later clarified that while the medal and diploma may be transferred, the honor itself is “inseparably linked” to the official recipient.
