Despite Europe’s open opposition to the U.S. president Donald Trump Exceed Greenlandthe language behind the scenes appears softer.
Posted by Trump a text message On Tuesday he received a letter from the French president Emmanuel Macronconfirmed as authentic by Macron’s office.
Starting with “my friend,” Macron struck a more deferential tone than he would have criticized France and some of its European partner countries. express publicly Opposition to Trump’s push to seize Greenland from NATO ally Denmark.
Before broaching Greenland disputeMacron chose to start his message by talking about other issues on which he and Trump appeared to be broadly aligned.
“We are completely united on Syria. We can do great things on Iran,” the French leader wrote in English.
He then added: “I don’t understand what you’re doing in Greenland,” followed by: “Let’s try to build something great.”
It was Macron’s only reference to the semi-autonomous territory of Denmark in two messages to Trump. It wasn’t clear from Trump’s post when he received the message.
Trump breaks tradition
Private messages between world leaders rarely enter the public domain verbatim, allowing them to publicly display one face and another to each other.
But Trump — as is his wont in many areas — is throwing tradition and diplomatic protocol out the window, and in the process pulling back the curtain on events that normally remain invisible.
This week, Text messages sent by Trump Information about the Norwegian Prime Minister was also made public, released by the Norwegian government and confirmed by the White House.
In it, Trump links his aggressiveness to Position on Greenland It was decided last year not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Given your country’s decision not to award me the Nobel Peace Prize for preventing eight wars, I no longer feel obligated to think purely about peace,” the message read.
The report concluded: “Unless we have complete control of Greenland, the world is not safe.”
On Tuesday, Trump also tweeted a flattering message from NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, which the alliance also confirmed was authentic.
“I am committed to finding a way forward for Greenland,” Rutte wrote. “Can’t wait to meet you. Yours, Mark.”
Rutte has refused to speak publicly about Greenland despite growing concerns about Trump’s threats to “occupy” Greenland and what that would mean for the territorial integrity of NATO ally Denmark. Asked last week about Trump’s plans for Greenland and Denmark’s warning that any U.S. military action could mean the end of NATO, Rutte said: “I can never comment on that. That’s not possible in public.”
Macron’s relationship with Trump
Macron likes to say that he can call Trump at any time. He proved it last September Performance Called the president on a street in New York and told Trump police were preventing him from letting a VIP motorcade pass.
“guess What? I’m waiting for you on the street because everything is frozen for you! Macron said as cameras captured the scene.
What’s certain is that Macron must know it by now – a year later Trump’s second term in office –Private messages to Trump always run the risk of becoming public.
Macron said on Tuesday he had “no particular reaction” to the announcement when reporters asked him about it.
“I take responsibility for everything I do. My habit is to align what I say on the outside with what I do in private. That’s it.”
Still, the difference between Macron’s public and private persona is striking.
Hosting Russia and Ukraine together
Most notably, the French leader told Trump in the message that he would be willing to invite Ukrainian and Russian representatives to a meeting in Paris later this week — an idea that Macron has yet to express publicly.
Macron said the Russians could be hosted “on the margins”, suggesting inviting Moscow’s representatives could be awkward, while France is also providing military and other support to Ukraine as it fights an incursion by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Macron wrote that the meeting could also include “Danes, Syrians” and G7 countries – including the United States.
The French president added: “On Thursday, before you go back to the United States, let’s have dinner together in Paris.”
He then concluded simply with “Emmanuel.”
Friendliness only goes so far
While Macron has worked tirelessly not to anger Trump throughout both terms, any returns have been mixed at best.
Trump was furious on Monday, Threaten to impose punitive tariffswhen told Macron had no plans to join Trump’s new cabinet peace committee will supervise next stage Despite the invitation, it remains committed to the Gaza peace plan.
“Well, no one wants him because he’s going to be out soon,” Trump told reporters, even though the French leader is still more than a year away from ending his second and final term in 2027.
“I’m going to put a 200% tariff on his wine and champagne, and he’s going to join in,” Trump said.
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Lorne Cooke in Brussels, Sylvie Corbett in Paris and Kostya Manenkov in Davos also contributed.